Heart Specialist Mönchengladbach (North Rhine-Westphalia): Head Physician Dr Neizel-Wittke

PD Dr Mirja Neizel-Wittke is the head physician of the department for cardiology & angiology and a specialist in interventional cardiology and cardiac imaging at the Elisabeth-Krankenhaus Rheydt in Mönchengladbach.

With her team of specialists, Doctor Neizel-Wittke offers a range of preventive care, diagnostics, and therapy for cardiac diseases. In addition, every patient of the department for cardiology & angiology receives an individual and customized therapy concept for fast and effective recovery.

Cardiology Mönchengladbach: Individual Therapy Concepts for Diseases of the Cardiovascular System

Due to its vital role as a central pumping organ, the diagnosis of heart disease is associated with severe anxiety for many patients. Since many of those affected suffer from general poor performance and shortness of breath, such a health burden can quickly become an existential crisis. Head physician Dr Neizel-Wittke and her team have made it their mission to alleviate these fears and to provide their patients with professional expertise in coping with their illnesses. At Elisabeth Hospital in Mönchengladbach, particular emphasis is placed on each patient's personal needs and individual requirements.

State-of-the-art Diagnostics for Cardiac Problems: Cardiac Imaging by Echocardiography & Cardio-MRI

Thanks to technological advances in modern ultrasound equipment, the team of experienced diagnosticians led by Dr Neizel-Wittke can visualize the beating heart and its valve plane in three dimensions. This not only has an indescribable diagnostic value but also greatly facilitates planning surgical interventions on the heart. In addition, the effect of physical activity on the heart can be visualized with the help of drug stimulation or actual exercise on a bicycle ergometer. These data allow a more precise statement about the patient's cardiac load capacity and reserve capacities.

Other imaging techniques, such as cardio-MRI, can assess pathological changes in the heart muscle. Harmless magnetic radiation is beneficial in cases of suspected myocarditis, after a past infarction, in rare cardiac tumors, or in congenital malformations.

On the other hand, a radiological examination with cardio-CT is helpful for diseases of the coronary vessels. This diagnostic procedure is offered in cooperation with the in-house radiology department. 

High Level of Expertise in Cardiac Catheterization

In addition to the catheter-based procedure for valve therapy described above, the cardiac catheter laboratory is primarily used for diagnosing and treating coronary artery diseases. These coronary vessels supply the heart muscle with oxygen-rich blood, as a result of which their partial or total occlusion has serious consequences for the poorly perfused muscle tissue. Balloon interventions and stent implantations can widen narrowed or calcified vessels or keep them open with vascular support.

In the case of existing atrial fibrillation, closure of the left atrial auricle is recommended since blood clots can form there and be washed into the brain by the bloodstream, causing a stroke.

Specialist in Interventional Cardiology 

The Elisabeth-Krankenhaus has two catheter workstations with state-of-the-art imaging and a hybrid surgery for all interventional procedures. In addition to general diagnostic procedures, Dr Neizel-Wittke also specializes in the catheter-based treatment of heart valve defects.

If open surgery is out of the question due to severe concomitant diseases, a catheter-based procedure can also provide relief in high-grade aortic valve stenosis cases. In transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI), the narrowed valve can be replaced by a prosthesis without the risk of general anesthesia using a heart-lung machine.

Therapy for Heart Insufficiency

With its certification as an HFU specialist clinic, Mönchengladbach Municipal Hospitals is officially one of the hospitals nationwide that provides optimal care for patients with acute or chronic heart failure. In addition to the highly specialized procedures of apparative cardiology, the team led by Doctor Neizel-Wittke has many years of experience in the conventional therapy of cardiac insufficiency. Due to the accumulation of water in the form of pulmonary and leg edema, patients with heart failure feel that their performance is severely limited. Furthermore, adequate drainage can reduce the heart's pumping capacity so that water retention is reduced.

Using imaging techniques and biopsies, the cause of heart muscle insufficiency can be narrowed down so that the disease can be treated causally.

Medical Expertise in Implantating Pacemakers and Defibrillators

Implantation of a pacemaker or a defibrillator is basically a very uncomplicated and painless procedure. The probe is advanced via a vein below the collarbone into the right atrium, and the box with the control unit is stitched into a skin pocket. In the further course, check-ups are scheduled at intervals of 6 months. If necessary, the stimulation frequency can be adjusted, and the event log read out.

Heart Specialist Mönchengladbach: MitraClip Therapy

The MitraClip procedure is a method of interventional cardiology. Doctor Neizel-Wittke specializes in this catheter-based method for treating mitral valve insufficiency. In this disease, the valve between the left atrium and the left ventricle closes insufficiently so that blood flows back through the leaky valve into the atrium during the pumping process. The backflow into the pulmonary vessels can result in pulmonary edema, while the inadequate output into the aorta results in reduced blood flow to all organs. The MitraClip procedure involves a catheter to staple the defective valve together with a small clip to restore the sealing.

Network Women's Heart: Proven Expertise in Women's Cardiology

Numerous studies have shown that there is an evident difference between genders in all cardiac diseases. For example, the pain perception of heart attacks is much more diffuse in women, so an infarction is often not diagnosed correctly. In addition, cycle-dependent hormonal fluctuations also play a more significant role in the female gender.

Therefore, Dr Neizel-Wittke practices gender-specific medicine. For this purpose, she has set up a consultation hour for women's cardiology.

Please visit the website of Elisabeth-Krankenhaus Rheydt for more information about Doctor Neizel-Wittke.