PD Dr. med. Dr. sc. nat. Stephan Winnik

With his clear clinical focus, PD Dr. med. Dr. sc. nat. Stephan Winnik is able to demonstrate the direction in which modern high-performance medicine is heading: The renowned Chief Physician of the Clinic for Cardiology, Rhythmology and Angiology at GZO Spital Wetzikon, who is also a consultant at the Clinic for Cardiology at the University Hospital Zurich, is considered a leading expert in device therapy –so, in all aspects of cardiac stimulation – as well as in electrophysiology, which involves the treatment of arrhythmias. His third focus is on the entire spectrum of heart failure, where he has profound experience ranging from outpatient medical treatment to intensive care.

People dealing with a heart dysfunction or irregular heartbeat want to be reassured quickly. Patients value a quick, reliable diagnosis and competent treatment by a cardiologist who is very familiar with all the details of the disease. As a highly trained specialist, PD Dr. med. Dr. sc. nat. Stephan Winnik has focused on precisely this.

An irregular heartbeat is not at all unusual – indeed, it is quite common. The most common signs are heart pounding or palpitations, while common symptoms can include restlessness and dizziness, nausea and an underlying feeling of anxiety. Cardiac arrhythmias can also occur in young people. They can be harmless, but should always be examined.

Area of expertise: Electrophysiology and radiofrequency ablation

During an electrophysiological examination, PD Dr. Winnik determines the causes of cardiac arrhythmias – whether it is atrial fibrillation, atrial flutter or other arrhythmias. With partly invasive diagnostics, the problem can often be remedied immediately by catheter ablation, in which the tissue that triggers the arrhythmia on the heart is heated by radiofrequency ablation using high-frequency current and destroyed. In the hands of an experienced specialist, there is very little risk with such a routine procedure. For pulmonary vein isolation specifically, it has been shown that serious complications occur far less frequently at the GZO Spital Wetzikon than at other centres.

PD Dr. med. Dr. sc. nat. Stephan Winnik specialised from an early stage of his career in modern treatment of heart failure and cardiac rhythm management. During his time as an assistant physician at the Universität Herzzentrum Zürich, which he undertook after studying in Freiburg im Breisgau, the USA, Canada and completing his doctorate at the University of Zurich, he set his sights on the special field of device therapy in the treatment of heart failure. There he eventually also became Senior Physician in Heart Failure, Transportation and Device Therapy. PD Dr. Winnik is also familiar with the most severe heart failure including heart transplantation as well as follow-up care and has an excellent overview of modern treatment of heart failure, so he is able to determine the best treatment for each patient at the right time. Other placements, by the way, were in Leipzig and Boston, Massachusetts.

High level of expertise in all aspects of device therapy

Device therapy includes all systems for the treatment of heart failure – and includes pacemakers, implantable defibrillators, event recorders and other stimulation and resynchronisation systems for cardiological use. When it comes to implanting a pacemaker, PD Dr. Dr. Winnik offers affected people the optimal solution – for example, a new type of leadless pacemaker, which he places in the right ventricle using a minimally invasive catheter. Patients in Wetzikon can also be assured of state-of-the-art defibrillators: the Chief Physician of the Clinic for Cardiology, Rhythmology and Angiology at the GZO Spital is also one of the recognised specialists for subcutaneously implantable cardioverter defibrillators (S-ICD) and also teaches this technique to colleagues throughout Switzerland. With this relatively new method, the heart and blood vessels remain untouched as the S-ICD system is inserted directly under the skin into the heart without wires.

So if you have a cardiovascular disease, contacting PD Dr. med. Dr. sc. nat. Stephan Winnik is the perfect decision. With his high degree of specialisation, the award-winning specialist, who is also a member of numerous professional societies, is the ideal consultant for all types of heart failure - as well as for diagnostics using right heart catheters, i.e. examining the right atrium and the right ventricle, and using endomyocardial biopsy to determine the cause of an unclear heart disease. It has long since become known far beyond the canton of Zurich that his diagnoses and medicinal and invasive treatments can be trusted. He also continues to perform various procedures at the University Hospital Zurich, creating the optimal treatment environment for each patient. He is also still in demand for complex heart biopsies, e.g. of the left ventricle.