• Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) as an instrument to increase patient safety during pediatric cardiac surgery
• The potential need and possible strategies to reduce or avoid donor blood transfusions during pediatric cardiac surgery
• Preoperative quantitative echocardiography to predict right heart failure following the implantation of  left ventricular circulatory support systems
• Intraoperative monitoring of myocardial function after  transapical replacement of the aortic valve (TAVI) by  transesophageal echocardiography
• The relationship between NIRS and clinical patient outcome after operations for type A aortic dissection
• Preclinical care of patients with aortic dissection aortic dissection and cardiovasscular diseases
• Environmental influences, biomarkers and scoring procedures for early recognition of  acute preclinical aortic dissection
• The emergency aortic telephone at the DHZB

Since 1996 the Department of Cardiac Anesthesiology and Intensive Care has worked in cooperation with the Institute for Physiology of the Charité, in the research network on organ perfusion. As part of this cooperation two holders of endowment professorships created by the DHZB work together with personnel from the clinical areas of our Department and the Institute for Physiology. The focus is on experimental research into clinical problems of vascular regulation and organ perfusion. These projects include:

• Cellular mechanisms and therapeutic interventions in pulmonary hypertension originating from chronic left heart failure
• Alveolar fluid absorption and secretion as a central mechanism of pulmonary edema
• Expression and function of cardiac opioid receptors
• Cellular and molecular mechanisms of transfusion related acute lung injury (TRALI) and new intervention concepts
• New therapeutic concepts and the development and testing of new monitoring procedures
• Adaptation of the microcirculation to simulated zero gravity