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Prizes for Paediatric Cardiology

ICM researchers Dr Marcus Kelm and PD Dr Marie Schafstedde were honoured at the DGPK annual conference.

We would like to congratulate four DHZC colleagues – two of them from the ICM – on their successes at the annual conference of the German Society for Paediatric Cardiology (DGPK). PD Dr Marie Schafstedde, PD Dr Constanze Pfitzer, PD Dr Marcus Kelm and Alexander Breitenstein were awarded prizes at the conference.

Alexander Breitenstein, Marie Schafstedde and Marcus Kelm (from left to right) with their certificates at the annual conference of the German Society for Paediatric Cardiology (DGPK). 

Drei Personen stehen in einem großen, hellen Raum und halten Zertifikate in den Händen. Die beiden Männer tragen unterschiedliche Outfits, einer in heller Kleidung und der andere in dunkler. Die Frau in der Mitte trägt schwarze Kleidung und lächelt. Alle drei scheinen stolz auf ihre Auszeichnungen zu sein.
Drei Personen stehen in einem großen, hellen Raum und halten Zertifikate in den Händen. Die beiden Männer tragen unterschiedliche Outfits, einer in heller Kleidung und der andere in dunkler. Die Frau in der Mitte trägt schwarze Kleidung und lächelt. Alle drei scheinen stolz auf ihre Auszeichnungen zu sein.

Alexander Breitenstein, Marie Schafstedde and Marcus Kelm (from left to right) with their certificates at the annual conference of the German Society for Paediatric Cardiology (DGPK). 

Constanze Pfitzer from the DHZC Department of Congenital Heart Defects – Paediatric Cardiology won the science prize worth €5,000 for her research project ‘Microcephaly is associated with impaired educational development in children with congenital heart disease’, which deals with the connection between microcephaly and developmental disorders in children with congenital heart defects.

Constanze's colleague PD DrMarcus Kelm, research associate at the ICM, received the award for the best abstract: ‘Longitudinal Assessment of Treatment Strategies in Ebstein's Anomaly: An Observational Study over Three Decades’ – the observation and evaluation of various treatment methods for Ebstein's anomaly, a rare congenital heart defect, over a period of three decades.

Development engineer Alexander Breitenstein is part of the ‘GrOwnValve’ team led by DHZC paediatric cardiologist PD Dr Boris Schmitt, which is working on the development of a replacement pulmonary valve made from the body's own tissue. He won the Young Investigator Award for his work on the experiences, challenges and opportunities involved in the development and application of this method.

Last but not least, our congratulations go to our ICM colleague PD Dr. med. Marie Schafstedde, who was awarded the ‘Gerd Killian’ grant (total endowment: 60,000 euros!). The paediatric cardiologist works at the DHZC Institute for Cardiovascular Computer-Assisted Medicine under the direction of Prof. Dr. med. Titus Kühne.

Her award-winning study investigates a serious comorbidity in patients with univentricular heart defects: pulmonary arteriovenous malformations (pAVM) lead to reduced blood oxygen saturation, which severely impairs quality of life and life expectancy. The cause is thought to be the absence of a ‘hepatic factor’ that is normally produced in the liver and reaches the lungs via the hepatic venous blood.

This factor could prevent the development of pAVM. This research could lead to the development of a drug therapy that replaces the hepatic factor and thus prevents the formation or progression of pAVM.

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