German Heart Center Munich
Munich, Germany 
Head of the Department
Prof. Dr. Rüdiger Lange
Department of Cardiovascular Surgery
Department of Cardiovascular Surgery at the German Heart Center Munich provides surgical care for patients with diseases of the heart and major blood vessels. The department is pioneering in the field of acquired heart disease therapy as more than 2,500 cardiac and vascular operations are performed by the doctors of the department annually. The department has an expectational team of surgeons who perform operations in advanced operating theaters equipped with state-of-the-art equipment and follows the latest surgical techniques and international guidelines. The department is well-known for its history which is full of achievements. In 1981, the department was the first to perform successful heart transplantation in Germany. The achievements continue with the development of new surgical technology as it was also the first to fully reconstruct the mitral valve through endoscopy.
Under the guidance of Prof. Dr. Med. Rüdiger Lange, the department treats over 1,700 inpatients every year. The department offers the full spectrum of surgical procedures for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases such as heart valve reconstruction, myocardial revascularization as well as interventional stenting of the aorta and heart transplantation. The department is also taking up the practice of minimally invasive procedures such as MitraClip, NeoChord, and Mitralign.
The Department of Cardiovascular Surgery at the German Heart Center Munich is specialized in:
• Coronary artery bypass
• Heart valve reconducting
• Heart valve replacement
• Stenting of the aorta
• Pacemaker implantation
• Surgical treatment of arrhythmia
Education and Professional Carrier
- Since 1973 till 1979, Prof. Dr. med. Rüdiger Lange studied medicine at the Universities of Bonn and Munich.
- In 1979, he completed his medical training and passed the 3d state examination at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich.
- On October 30, 1979, in Munich, he received a license to practice medicine.
- In 1980 he received his Doctoral Degree in Bonn
- In 1981 he began his surgical training with Prof. Sebening at the German Heart Center Munich.
- From 1981 to 1983, he was involved in research activities at Harvard Medical School under the direction of Eugene Braunwald at the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts, as well as under the direction of Shukri Khuri, Veterans Affairs Medical Center, West Roxbury, Massachusetts (Scholarship of the German Research Foundation).
- After his work at Harvard, he began his training in General Surgery under the direction of Jörg Rüdiger Siewert at the University Hospital Rechts der Isar Munich.
- After a short period of work as an Assistant Physician at the German Heart Center Munich in 1988, the doctor moved to the Department of Cardiac Surgery at the University Hospital Heidelberg. Until 1999, he worked there as a Senior Physician, and later he became a Leading Senior Physician.
- He received in-depth training in Pediatric Cardiac Surgery at the University Hospital Heidelberg. He also managed a heart transplant program at the hospital.
- In 1993, Prof. was habilitated at the University of Heidelberg and received Venia Legendi.
- In 1995, the doctor was offered the position of Acting Head in the Department of Cardiac Surgery at the University Hospital Ulm.
- The board certification in Surgery (December 6, 1989) was followed by a specialization in Cardiothoracic Surgery (May 24, 1995).
- Prof. Lange was trained in Lung Surgery for several months at the specialized Thorax Clinic Heidelberg-Rohrbach.
- On May 16, 2000, the doctor received his specialization in Cardiac Surgery.
- On April 25, 2005, he received additional qualifications in Special Cardiac Surgical Intensive Care.
- After receiving an invitation to the Department of Cardiac Surgery at the Technical University of Munich, in 1999 he became the University Professor and was also appointed as the Head of the Department of Cardiac Surgery at the German Heart Center Munich.
Memberships
- German Society for Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery
- German Society of Cardiology
- Society of Thoracic Surgeons
- American Association for Thoracic Surgery
- International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation
Awards and Honors
- Pirogov Order of the Russian Federation
- Title of Honorary Professor of the Beijing Metropolitan University College of Medicine, China (2006)
- Ernst Derry Prize of the German Society for Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery (1993)
- Prize of the German Society of Surgery (1991)
- Hancock Editions Award of the German Society for Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery (1990)
- Heinz Maier Leibnitz Medal of the University of Munich (2015)
