Dr Olaf Franzen - Pioneer in Catheter-based Heart Valve Therapy

Dr. Olaf Walter Franzen has been performing catheter treatments of heart valve defects as a pioneer in this field for more than 10 years and has now treated more than 1000 patients with these procedures. 

Dr Olaf Franzen has developed these procedures in leading medical centres in Europe and Asia - including Hamburg, London, Copenhagen, Hong-Kong and Singapore - and has written many publications in this field. He is also one of the doctors who treated patients in the renowned European "Notion Study", which compared catheter interventions and open-heart surgery in patients with aortic valve stenosis. 

This catheter procedure is now the standard treatment for most patients with aortic valve stenosis in many countries. 

In addition, Dr Olaf Franzen performed the first catheter procedure on humans for leaflet repair in mitral valve insufficiency in Europe. This so-called mitraclip therapy is now a widely used procedure worldwide with more than 100,000 patients treated.