Dr. Michael Lichtenberg, FESC is a nationally and internationally renowned and very experienced specialist in angiology (vascular conditions). As the Chief Physician of the Department of Angiology at the Hochsauerland Hospital, he also heads the in-house Pelvic Vein Obstruction Center. Dr. Lichtenberg is a specialist in angiology, internal medicine, cardiology, internistic intensive care, hypertensiology (DHL) as well as a graduate health economist. He is also an FECS (Fellow of the European Society of Cardiology), an honorary title only awarded to specialists who have made exceptional contributions in the specialist field of vascular medicine. Since 2017, Dr. Lichtenberg has been the Executive Secretary of the German Angiology Association (DGA), which represents over 1200 angiologists and which significantly influences further development in this specialized medical field. The main objectives of Dr. Lichtenberg as the Executive Secretary of the DGA are both the further development of guidelines in the arterial and venous area and the restructuring of advanced angiology training and, as a result, the support of up-and-coming specialists. He will head the Association from 2020 as President of the DGA. The Pelvic Vein Obstruction Center is one of the largest specialist departments of this type in the whole of Germany. Pelvic vein obstruction means vascular conditions which are caused by a disrupted blood flow in the pelvic veins. These disruptions may be congenital or acquired in the course of a lifetime, due to a prior venous thrombosis, for example.
The leg veins expand due to the backlog of blood and damage the venous valves. Various symptoms, including swelling, varicose veins and venous ulcers, result and can markedly affect the quality of life. The highly competent 18-member specialist team under Dr. Lichtenberg specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of these constrictions in the pelvic veins. In the diagnosis, as a rule, the specialists rely on a vascular ultrasound, which displays the blood flow in the blood vessels and enables the malfunction to be identified. Further imaging techniques, in particular, CT and MRI, can also be called on in support. A stent is utilized in order normalize to the blood flow in the pelvic veins. Stents are small cannulae made from metal braiding, which expand and stabilize the blood vessel. They are advanced through the inguinal vein to the constriction in the course of a minimal invasive procedure under x-ray control and are secured there. The angiology specialists at the Pelvic Vein Obstruction Center perform approximately 250 of these minimal invasive procedures annually. The overwhelming majority of patients (over 90%) benefits from this treatment and obtains a distinct improvement in their quality of life. A second focus of the Center is the treatment of severe and very severe circulatory disorders in the arms and legs (peripheral arterial occlusive disease). The hospital specifically founded a study center some years ago, in which new catheter techniques for the treatment of this condition are researched in order to provide further therapeutic options, in particular, for patients with critical circulatory disorders. On average, over 40 studies are performed at this Center together with other national and international vascular specialists. A number of study physicians and 6 study nurses in this study center care for the patients over a number of years following the catheter procedures. Dr. Lichtenberg and his team report the results of the new treatments at national and international conferences. In the meantime, far above 100 original publications, book contributions, scientific commentaries and opinion pieces have been published by the specialists (see under Downloads).