FKKD Clinical Complex

The FKKD Clinical Complex is the largest network of medical facilities in Düsseldorf.

The complex has its own St. Mauritius rehabilitation clinic.

The FKKD clinical complex treats elderly patients with severe comorbidities, individualizing a gentle cancer treatment regimen.

The FKKD clinical complex was formed as a result of the merger of major Catholic hospitals: Marien Cancer Hospital, St. Augusta Cardiology Center, St. Vincent Hospital, Geriatrics Center, West German Diabetes and Health Center (WDGZ) and St. Mauritius Rehabilitation Hospital. Thanks to this, today the FKKD provides all kinds of diagnostic and treatment services, particularly for cancer. The Department of General, Visceral, Thoracic and Endocrine Surgery is headed by Matthias Schauer, a thoracic surgeon, the best doctor in Germany in 2021 according to the German publication FOCUS. He and his team specialize in esophageal cancer, its early diagnosis and surgical treatment options. Diseases of the stomach and duodenum can be diagnosed by standard gastroscopy, but to examine the small and large intestine, FKKD specialists use an innovative capsule technique: a small video capsule is swallowed by the patient and passes through the entire gastrointestinal tract without unnecessary discomfort. Highly accurate images obtained from the study are crucial in the diagnosis of gastroenterologic diseases. Another advantage of “FKKD” is the use of endoscopic surgery for laser excision of tumors, removal of polyps or even insertion of a prosthesis into the esophagus. The hepatology department treats several thousand patients with viral hepatitis each year. New antiviral drugs available during treatment in Germany significantly slow down the pathologic processes of fibrosis in the liver, especially in hepatitis C. The use of sofosbuvir has reduced the number of those needing liver transplantation by 40% due to the preservation of the patient’s own organ. At the moment, 28 clinical trials for the development of new antitumor drugs are being conducted on the basis of the FKKD complex. Innovative developments include targeted therapy with bevacizumab and sunitinib. If radiotherapy (radiation treatment) is required, the complex has three state-of-the-art linear gas pedals. The individually dosed radiation load preserves healthy tissue and targets cancer cells. Intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT), image guided radiation therapy (IGRT), interstitial therapy for prostate carcinoma (LDR and HDR – brachytherapy), high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) and radiofrequency thermal ablation of tumors (RITA) are available in the Radiology Department. The ABVD and BEACOPP protocols, which are uniform throughout Germany, are used for the treatment of pediatric blood cancers and lymphomas, and the results show a high response to therapy. This is important because the options for radiation therapy are limited. Thanks to modern medicine, leukemia is now a treatable disease, and FKKD doctors use aspiration biopsy of bone marrow cells for accurate diagnosis and choice of treatment method.