Dr. Jill Jussli-Melchers, a specialist at the Clinic for Cardiothoracic Surgery at the University Medical Center Schleswig-Holstein (UKSH), Campus Kiel, has been honored with the Werner Klinner Prize. This award, presented for the third time at the annual conference of the German Society for Thoracic, Cardiac, and Vascular Surgery (DGTHG), in collaboration with the Gerald Asamoah Foundation for Children with Heart Disease, recognizes young authors of patient-centered scientific publications on the surgical or interdisciplinary treatment of congenital heart defects in children and adolescents.
The winning work for this year, a collaborative project between the Clinic for Cardiothoracic Surgery and the Clinic for Congenital Heart Defects and Pediatric Cardiology at UKSH, Campus Kiel, describes an alternative treatment approach for a partially closing pulmonary valve, allowing blood reflux into the right ventricle with each heartbeat. Typically, patients with defective heart valves receive valve replacements. However, the various options for valve replacement are often limited in durability or availability. The researchers have demonstrated that mid-term outcomes with pulmonary valve reconstruction can yield similarly favorable results, thereby delaying the need for valve replacement at least temporarily.
Dr. Jussli-Melchers shares the first authorship with PD Dr. Jan Hinnerk Hansen, Deputy Director of the Clinic for Congenital Heart Defects and Pediatric Cardiology; the senior author of the paper is Prof. Dr. Inga Voges, Senior Physician of this clinic.
Named after the German heart surgeon Werner Klinner, the prize is endowed with €7,500.
Publication
Jill Jussli-Melchers et al., Pulmonary valve reconstruction for acquired pulmonary regurgitation in patients with treated congenital heart disease. Interdisciplinary CardioVascular and Thoracic Surgery, 2023, https://doi.org/10.1093/icvts/ivad105
For inquiries from journalists, please contact:
University Medical Center Schleswig-Holstein, Campus Kiel
Department of Cardiac Surgery, Dr. Jill Jussli-Melchers,
Tel.: 0431 500-67075, markajill.jussli-melchers@uksh.de
Responsible for the press release:
Oliver Grieve, Press Spokesperson
University Medical Center Schleswig-Holstein
Mobile: +49 173 4055 000
Email: Oliver.Grieve@uksh.de
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