As of: February 4, 2024, 10:04 a.m
By: Andreas Beez
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Family happiness: Lisa-Marie Sangl with her son Leander and husband Alexander.
The 24-year-old only survived a dramatic heart condition thanks to an emergency operation at the German Heart Center in Munich.
© private
When Lisa-Marie (24) suddenly became seriously ill with her heart, her family's happiness hung by a thread.
In a dramatic emergency operation, specialists from the German Heart Center in Munich were able to save the young mother's life.
Munich – Leander is one and a half years old and the pride and joy of his parents.
When the cute boy beams from ear to ear, Lisa-Marie and Alexander Sangl (27) aren't the only ones whose hearts swell.
Like all parents, they love their little one more than anything - but perhaps they now enjoy everyday life as a threesome a little more consciously than others.
Just over a quarter of a year ago, the future together of the young family from the Eichstätt district was in great danger.
Bacteria had caused severe inflammation in Lisa-Marie's heart and her life was in danger.
“The doctors didn’t know whether I would make it,” remembers the 24-year-old.
Young mom says: “I could only sleep sitting up”
Flashback to October last year: As if out of nowhere, Lisa-Marie suddenly begins to lose physical strength, feels exhausted and gets slightly out of breath.
At first she doesn't think much about it.
“I just thought I was catching a flu-like infection, especially since Leander and Alexander also had a cold.” Nothing unusual when you have a small child, because in daycare centers there is a sniffle from autumn to spring and infection can hardly be avoided.
But the otherwise robust mother is getting worse and worse.
“I became extremely short of breath and could barely climb a few steps.
At some point I could only sleep sitting up.”
Heart valve severely inflamed, kidneys no longer functioned
Your family doctor takes blood and the laboratory results reveal, among other things, poor kidney values and anemia, which in medical terms is called anemia.
She is admitted to the Kösching Clinic, a small hospital in the Altmühltal.
There, the doctors discovered the cause of the poor blood values: During an ultrasound examination (technical term cardiac echo), they discovered that the aortic valve was severely inflamed and the mitral valve, another of four heart valves, was also attacked.
In addition, both kidneys no longer function because they no longer receive sufficient blood supply.
Blood cultures revealed bacteria from the mouth
In order to find the cause of the inflammatory process, the Köschingen doctors perform blood cultures.
These microbiological studies reveal bacteria from the genus Gemella morbillorum.
They are usually located in the mucous membranes of the mouth and throat and rarely cause infection.
But in Lisa-Marie's case, the pathogens were washed into the heart in the bloodstream.
There they fueled endocarditis.
This causes the inner lining of the heart, which is called endocardium in Latin, to become inflamed.
The disease then mainly affects the heart valves.
Endocarditis is relatively rare.
But it can be life-threatening – as it was for Lisa-Marie.
“I felt brutally bad, I felt like I was in a trance.” She is transported by Sanka to the German Heart Center in Munich and given an antibiotic that she has to take for six weeks.
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Heart surgeon Professor Markus Krane © DHM
Chief cardiac surgeon Professor Markus Krane is in charge of the emergency operation in Munich
Closer examination reveals the dramatic extent of the endocarditis.
As a result of the inflammatory process, the aortic valve has become leaky and the heart is very weak.
The ejection output (technical term left ventricular ejection fraction) is only 27 percent.
This means that with each heartbeat, only about a quarter of the amount of blood in the heart continues to pump.
For comparison: a healthy heart reaches 55 to 70 percent.
“A value below 30 percent is considered extremely critical because the body is then no longer adequately supplied with blood or oxygen,” explains Professor Markus Krane, Director of the Clinic for Cardiac and Vascular Surgery at the German Heart Center.
He knows: his patient needs a new heart valve.
She needs to get to the operating room as quickly as possible.
An artificial heart valve made of carbon is inserted into the patient
Before the emergency operation, the doctors decide on the strategy together with their patient.
“I decided on a mechanical heart valve.” It is made of carbon – in contrast to a biological heart valve, which is made from bovine pericardial tissue.
However, this usually has to be replaced after around ten to 15 years, which is not an optimal solution for a patient as young as the 24-year-old.
“A mechanical heart valve, on the other hand, usually lasts a lifetime,” says heart surgeon Krane, explaining the difference.
However, the carbon valve also has disadvantages compared to a biological prosthesis.
“You hear a quiet clicking noise with every heartbeat.
“I had to get used to this noise,” says Lisa-Marie.
She also has to take the blood thinner Marcumar for life - a medication that is also prescribed to many older patients with cardiac arrhythmias (atrial fibrillation).
It is intended to prevent the formation of blood clots that can travel to the brain and cause a stroke.
Muscle loss due to heart disease: Lisa-Marie had to learn to walk again
But Lisa-Marie knows: Marcumar is well tolerated.
And the clicking of the valve is just a piece of cake compared to the new quality of life she has enjoyed since the operation.
“Everything feels very good today.” The specialists at the heart center have done a great job: their patient is recovering quickly, and just a few days after the operation her kidney is working so well again that she no longer needs dialysis (blood washing).
The heart also gains new strength.
Nevertheless, Lisa-Marie first has to fight her way back into everyday life.
Three weeks after the procedure with the heart-lung machine, she was released into rehabilitation.
There she first has to learn to walk again because her muscles had broken down.
“But things got better every day.
I wouldn’t have thought that you could get back on your feet so quickly after such a serious illness.”
The whole extended family is happy with the young mother
The whole extended family is happy with her.
She held together tightly and gave the young mother a lot of strength.
“Someone was with me in the hospital every day.” Her husband Alexander also looked after their son.
Leander is also happy that his mom is back home; they spend a lot of time together.
“I am relieved and happy that I can finally be there for him again.”
Professor Markus Krane: “We assume that the values will continue to improve”
So the Sangl family's everyday life is finally running smoothly again.
And the best thing about it: Not only does everyday life return to normal, but also Lisa-Marie's heart function.
By the time she was discharged from the cardiac center, the ejection rate had climbed back to 39 percent.
“We assume that her values will continue to improve and that Ms. Sangl can run around with her son to her heart’s content,” says heart surgeon Krane with a wink.
As a family man, he knows how much this normality is worth.
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