Information about Prof. Dr Jürg Grünenfelder

Prof. Dr. Jürg Grünenfelder is a specialist in cardiac surgery at Heart Clinic Hirslanden and has many years of successful experience in the entire field of cardiac surgery. He specializes in minimally invasive valve surgery and catheter-based valve interventions.

Professor Grünenfelder is the Head of the Department of Cardiac Surgery and performs catheter-based valve surgery together with Professor Corti, head of cardiology at the Herz­Klinik Hirslanden.

The HerzKlinik Hirslanden excels by the very close cooperation of all its specialists in the area of cardiac medicine, making it possible to offer each patient the best treatment method.

Latest surgical techniques: mitral valve reconstruction/replacement

Surgical repair or mitral valve replacement is the second most common heart valve surgery. The cause of the disease is either degenerative, or a functional or inflammatory change in the structures of the mitral valve. This leads to insufficiency of the heart valve, which can considerably impede the heart's pump performance.

Prof. Grünenfelder and his team support the medical conviction that the anatomically correct repair of the mitral valve is a sustainable, curative therapy for mitral insufficiency. Prof. Grünenfelder has different surgical procedures at his disposal for this purpose. In most cases, the defective mitral valve can be reconstructed in a minimally invasively procedure. In this procedure, access to the heart is through an incision between the ribs. The sternum does not need to be opened.

Recently, the DaVinci robot has been used for these operations at the Hirslanden Heart Clinic. The DaVinci technology supports very precise mitral valve reconstruction. As an alternative to the minimally invasive technique, mitral valve reconstruction can also be performed via a median sternotomy. To treat mitral insufficiency, Prof. Grünenfelder and his team custom choose the method suitable for the patient.

Catheter-based reconstruction: using the clip procedure (MitraClip)

So-called mitral clipping is a minimally invasive procedure based on the heart catheter. The MitraClip procedure was introduced specifically for the functional restoration of the mitral valve. This special clip is an alternative to surgical therapy for high-risk patients and patients with advanced cardiomyopathy, and has become increasingly important in recent years.

Minimally invasive therapy of atrial fibrillation: maze procedure

Atrial fibrillation is one of the most frequent tachycardic cardiac arrhythmias, which can lead to the formation of blood clots (thrombi), resulting in vascular occlusion. The minimally invasive treatment of atrial fibrillation of this kind at the Hirslanden Heart Clinic is unique due to the so-called maze procedure, in which the atria are divided into very specific segments using a cutting and suture technique, and so the spread and development of atrial fibrillation is very successfully prevented.

Aortocoronary bypass surgery: using the surgical robot DaVinci

The latest-generation surgical robot DaVinci is chosen at the Hirslanden Clinic for selected heart operations, such as aorto-coronary bypass surgery, and promises patients smaller surgical access routes, reduced wound areas and faster recovery.

The robot has four arms that carry up to three instruments next to the camera, which can be inserted into the body through small incisions and controlled in this way by the surgeon. According to renowned cardiac surgeons, the flexibility and precision of the robot system that can now be achieved surpass those of the human hand, and thus offer new opportunities in cardiac surgery

Click here, to go to Prof. Grünenfelder's website.