Prof. Dr med. Amir Minovi

When Prof. Dr med. Amir Minovi took over as head of the Department of Otorhinolaryngology at the tradition-steeped St. Elisabeth Hospital in Cologne-Hohenlind in 2017, newspapers throughout the greater Cologne/Bonn area reported on the high-calibre appointment that the long-established yet ultra-modern institution had thus succeeded in making. For this proven specialist is very familiar with the entire spectrum of diseases of the head and neck – and at university level.

As an academic teaching hospital of the University of Cologne, which also has its own training facilities, St. Elisabeth Hospital in Cologne-Hohenlind has a first-class reputation around the cathedral city. Even when it was founded almost a hundred years ago, it was considered one of the most progressive hospitals in the German-speaking world – making important contributions to the further development and modernisation of medicine and nursing.

The fact that the St. Elisabeth Hospital in Cologne is still committed to this progressive tradition in unbroken continuity can be seen in the Department of Otorhinolaryngology – or rather: in its head physician. Prof. Dr med. Amir Minovi is a proven specialist in the vast field of ear, nose and throat medicine and head and neck surgery. As an excellently networked specialist, Prof. Minovi is a member of several, also international, specialist societies and is always familiar with the latest methods of diagnostics and the most modern therapy and surgical procedures.

Practice, research, publications: Luminary of ENT medicine

His reputation quickly spread far beyond the surrounding area – which is also thanks to the trend-setting publications with which the patient-oriented specialist repeatedly advances his field scientifically. For example, he made a name for himself as co-author of various specialist books on the subject of “sinusitis” or on diseases of the middle ear in childhood.

It is precisely the fact that Prof. Minovi has to deal with patients of all ages in his speciality that still inspires him today. A good part of the fascination with his medical discipline is based on the wealth of facets that the field of ENT plus head and neck surgery actually offers. So the clinic in Cologne-Hohenlind was also just the right place for the specialist: Here, with top-class equipment and a competent team, he can apply his entire range of services – not least through the certified Head and Neck Tumour Centre Cologne.

Surgery in focus: familiar with minimally invasive procedures

The team around the specialist performs around four thousand operations every year – as outpatient and inpatient procedures. This often involves preserving, improving or restoring people’s senses: Because in the field of ENT medicine, it’s always about a balance between speaking, hearing, smelling and tasting. This interplay between the senses is of crucial importance for our everyday life and quality of life – so a comprehensive, exact diagnosis inevitably plays a key role.

Prof. Dr med. Amir Minovi does everything to ensure that his patients’ senses function as perfectly as possible. Besides conventional hearing tests – innovative computer-assisted procedures are also utilised in the clinic – allowing limitations in hearing and sense of balance to be determined very precisely. The diagnostic spectrum also includes checking the function of the nose – this applies to breathing as well as to the sense of smell.

The exclusion of possible allergic diseases also falls into the specialist’s area: If, for example, there is a persistent cold, the possible allergy is determined with carefully selected tests. In this way, Prof. Minovi finds out whether grasses, animal hair or moulds are potential triggers.

Filigree art: Microsurgery of the middle ear

The smallest bones of our body are located in the middle ear – or more precisely: inside the tympanic cavity. They are the ossicles hammer, anvil and stirrup. And because the vibrations of the eardrum are to be transmitted to the inner ear via a chain of these tiny bones with as little loss as possible, a disturbance must be treated with extreme care. That makes it important to rely on a specialist who is well versed and experienced in microsurgery of the middle ear. With the high level of expertise that Prof. Minovi has in all types of surgical procedures, he removes pathological changes in the ear – and rebuilds ears. This means that patients with chronic middle ear infections or cholesteatoma – normally associated with bone destruction – receive a special treatment. And when it comes to purely aesthetic corrections of the shape of the auricle, the clinic in Hohenlind is also a recommendable address.

An important topic of our time is operations to improve hearing. Prof. Dr med. Amir Minovi, who played a leading role in setting up the Cochlea Implant Centre Ruhr Area and Centre for Middle Ear Surgery in Bochum before his time in Cologne, has consequently done pioneering work in the provision of cochlear implants, tympanoplasties and implantable hearing systems – and has thus given the Department of Otorhinolaryngology at St. Elisabeth Hospital in Cologne-Hohenlind a first-class reputation in this field.

Expert for all forms of hearing loss

Prof. Minovi also deals with all age groups when it comes to hearing loss: He is familiar with all forms of this condition in children and adults and provides those affected with absolutely individual electronic hearing prostheses that replace virtually all functions of the inner ear. In this way, the auditory nerve is stimulated – allowing even deaf people to enjoy new acoustic perceptions.

The transition to Prof. Minovi’s next speciality runs from the middle ear via the Eustachian tube to the nasopharynx. Whether the aim of functional nasal surgery is to achieve improved nasal breathing or to correct the paranasal sinuses, Prof. Minovi has been familiar with all the details for many years. With filigree microsurgical procedures that usually leave no visible scars, he removes thickened mucous membrane if necessary, widens the accesses – and can thus also heal severe chronic sinusitis. Anyone suffering from such a disease should always consult an experienced specialist – because the sinuses are very close to both the eye sockets and the brain. By the way: Prof. Minovi and his team also perform nose corrections – i.e. rhinoplasties – using computer-assisted simulation with patients to plan the exact shape desired.

Snoring is also a problem that affects several areas of otorhinolaryngology beyond the nose – and thus falls within Prof. Minovi’s field. With procedures that are again mainly minimally invasive, he can help if indicated – this also including sleep examinations. The advantage: The medical clinic has a sleep laboratory.

Address with reputation: Head and Neck Tumour Centre Cologne

The fact that Prof. Dr med. Amir Minovi has a special focus on the treatment of head and neck tumours was one of the main reasons why the clinic and the specialist found each other. Because in this way, the reputation of the Head and Neck Tumour Centre, which was already certified by TÜV Rheinland in 2015, could be sustainably expanded and optimised. In 2021, the certification of the Head and Neck Tumour Centre according to the guidelines of the German Cancer Society was achieved together with the Oncology Centre. Here, all cancers in the area of the head and neck are treated with highly professional equipment and a highly experienced team. As a highly specialised specialist, Prof. Minovi works together with precisely coordinated teams of doctors from a wide range of disciplines – in diagnostics as well as in therapies. In the weekly tumour board, the specialists discuss each individual case in detail because – especially in the case of malignant tumours – the focus is on keeping the affected organ functional. To this end, state-of-the-art laser technology is used in Cologne-Hohenlind. And it goes without saying that after-care is also of the highest standard with the empathetic head physician.

So it’s an enormous range of services that the Department of Otorhinolaryngology at the time-honoured St. Elisabeth Hospital in Cologne-Hohenlind offers. In order to guarantee this high quality permanently and seamlessly, all the cogs have to mesh together day after day – and everyone in the team has to pull together. The fact that this works so well at the Hohenlind Clinic also has to do with the open, friendly manner: Prof. Dr med Amir Minovi, creates exactly the right basis for a warm and responsible atmosphere in which everyone feels comfortable. Of course, this also applies to the patients.

The Iranian-born specialist studied at several top addresses: first at the renowned Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz – and finally at the Texas Baylor College of Medicine in Houston and the world-famous Harvard Medical School in Boston. He then completed his doctorate in Mainz before working as an assistant physician at the Fulda Hospital. He qualified as a university lecturer in 2009 – with authority to teach. In between, he also completed a degree in health economics at the University of Bielefeld. At the ENT Clinic of the Ruhr University in Bochum, where he was also deputy clinic director in his last position as senior physician, he distinguished himself as a research assistant. Of course, the specialist will continue to work in science and research – from which the people in the Cologne/Bonn area will also benefit in a very practical way.