The hospital is part of the larger University Medical Center, which is the largest among Hamburg s hospitals with approximately 1,400 hospital beds. The medical center treats approximately 50,000 inpatients annually and approximately 250,000 outpatients as well as 50,000 emergency patients.
Following is a look at the University Heart Center at the University Hospital Hamburg-Eppendorf. Professor Stephan Willems and Dr. Daniel Steven discuss with us the inner workings of clinical electrophysiology and the latest advancements in medical technology that enable them to provide their patients with the utmost in care and accuracy during complex cardiac procedures.

What is the size of your EP lab facility and number of staff members? What is the mix of credentials at your lab?
We currently have two dedicated EP labs; they are used only for interventional EP studies. Currently there are six physicians and eight nurses working in the two labs.

When was the EP lab started at your institution?
The first EP studies were started back in the 1980s. The number and variety of ablation procedures are still increasing.

What types of procedures are performed at your facility? Approximately how many are performed each week?
In our lab, we treat all arrhythmias. Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the dominant tachycardia treated in our facility. Of the 1,000 ablation procedures that we performed in 2007, approximately 530 of these were for AF; the other 500 procedures consisted of ventricular tachycardia (VT) and other SVT ablations. We reserve one day a week for ablation of complex arrhythmias such as VT or ablation procedures in children. In addition to the high volume of AF procedures we perform, we are seeing an increase in VTs in our lab.

What is the primary goal of your program (AF ablations, lead extractions, BiVs, etc.)?
Our primary goal is the ablation of complex atrial and ventricular tachycardias. As a part of the University Heart Center, we also perform device implantations.

Is the EP lab separate from the cath lab? How long has this been? Are employees cross-trained?
We now have two labs dedicated for EP procedures. This is extremely important for a university, as we train cardiologists in all areas of electrophysiology. In fact, we recently opened the second EP lab in mid-2007 to meet our training demands as well as our patient needs.
The physicians working in the EP lab are trained to work in the cath lab, but are primarily focused on EP procedures. Five of our nurses are also trained to assist in the cath lab. Both EP labs are equipped to perform hemodynamic procedures.