Dr. Klaus Schaarschmidt

Coming up for bar removal in July 2017, I thought it apt to finally rate the work of my surgeon, Professor Klaus Schaarschmidt.

Age 22 was the first time in my life that I was able to afford the surgery to correct my PC. Once I was assured of funds, I had the tricky task of choosing a surgeon. My main options were Dr Ivan Schewitz in my home country South Africa, Dr Dawn Jaroszewski in Arizona, USA, and Professor Schaar in Berlin, Germany.

Ultimately I wanted to have the best surgeon. However in my mind there was nothing between Schaar and Dr J, they were both the best and so it became a question of travel time in case of complications or emergency. Berlin is much closer to South Africa and so I was happy to book a surgery date with the much acclaimed and pioneering Professor Schaar. I must say that in terms of setting and scenery, Berlin was also a far more attractive option. The hospital and the grounds of Helios are quite something! And the cafeteria is loaded with healthy and very well prepared food. I can't wait to go back just to have 5/6 days of solid eating in the cafeteria.

Anyways, my surgery went as planned and my recovery from the get go was pretty strong. I had the physiotherapists quite impressed, especially Sven.

9 days after surgery I was released from Helios and continued to tour Germany and the rest of Europe for a further 3 weeks before heading home. I was off all painkillers by the time I left hospital and so I managed to have a really nice vacation with sightseeing after my surgery.

Recovery continued very well up until the 4 month mark, when I managed to have a car accident with 2 other cars and a wall at 80km/h. Front and side airbags popped. The bar and stabilizers didn't move one bit, and I felt 100%. After about 48 hours I could feel irritation and inflammation around the stabilizers which lasted for a good 2 months. I was very impressed with how secure the bar felt!

Now I await bar removal in July 2017. I thought about leaving it in for another year as I don't even realize the bar is there, but I think 2 years is sufficient for PC repair.

Overall I had an excellent experience with Professor Schaar and his staff at Helios. I hope everything goes smoothly at bar removal so that I can end my pectus journey on a high note, as we all deserve!

I developed PE in my early teens and lived with the symptoms of shortness of breath, fatigability, constant pressure discomfort, chest and back pain felt. In 2016 at age 44, I felt certain that the symptoms were getting worse and started looking more seriously at having my PE repaired.

I did a lot of research and ended up looking overseas for a surgeon than I could be confident I would have good outcome with.

I contacted Professor Schaarscmidt, who was very helpful. He described my condition as very severe right asymmetric PE, with right sternal torsion, with upper PE and rib flaring on both sides.

I then had a CT scan which confirmed that I had a Haller index of 8.1, with only 2.3 cm between my sternum and my spine, the CT also revealed right ventricular compression and right aortal compression. The lung function tests were 65% of the norm.

In spite of my age and the severity of my PE, Prof Schaarscmidt was very confident that he could correct my PE and the rib flare. At the time, he had done over 1,650 Nuss repairs in patients aged 12 to 58 years of age, 120-150 Nuss procedures a year. I had confidence that I was putting myself in very capable and experienced hands.

I flew to Berlin in late November 2016 and had a few days sightseeing before going to the Helios Clinic in Buch about 40 minutes’ drive north east of the city. I met Prof Schaarscmidt the day before my surgery and after looking at my chest we discussed the surgery and expected positive outcome.

The surgery was successful and I had no complications. It took me a few days to get a look at my chest, but when I finally did I was very pleased with the outcome. Both the PE and rib flare were completely gone. The recovery was not easy, especially if you are older and you have to push yourself to get mobile again. The more mobile you are the faster the recovery. Professor Schaarschmidt emphasized this every time he visited, which helped me to push to get mobile and make use of my new lung space!

I began physio which consisted of yoga, stretches and aerobic exercise on the exercise bike. I also walked around the hospital as much as possible and kept up with the three breathing exercise devices they give you.

The doctors, nurses and physiotherapist in particular were very familiar with the Nuss procedure recovery process. I believe this was a key benefit to compliment Prof Schaarschmidts’ experience.

At all times I found Prof Schaarscmidt to be a very kind, caring and professional surgeon and I felt that I could have absolute confidence in his expertise. I had 12 days recovering in the Helios clinic before flying back to Australia.

Considering how severe my PE was, I have come out with a result that is close to perfect.
It is so easy to breathe now that it feels almost as if another person is breathing for me. I can no longer feel my heart beating through my ribs and neck.

After three months post-surgery, I am walking, jogging and weight training again. While my body is still adjusting, I feel like the surgery has given me a new lease on life; my only regret being not having the PE repair sooner.

It was an absolute pleasure dealing with Prof Schaarschmidt. I can without hesitation recommend him as a highly skilled and experienced surgeon, who has a very kind and approachable manner.

I am 35 years old and I just had by PE repaired 3 months ago by the excellent Prof. Klaus Schaarschmidt at Helios Klinikum Berlin-Buch.
I had a medium sized PE but have been suffering from poor posture/back pain, muscle weakness around the chest area, unexplained tachycardia and the appearance of a weird looking hole in my chest.
I have been wanting to make it go away since I was 25 years old, but I was told by many doctors that the procedure was too complex and that I should live with it.
At 35, my symptoms seemed to have been getting worst, I was committed at this point to proceed with fixing my PE via the Nuss Procedure.
After researching all over the internet for the best doctor for performing this procedure, I was convinced that Prof. Schaarschmidt was the best choice.

I contacted Prof Schaarschmidt and after a few mails, I booked my operation at the Helios Klinikum Berlion-Buch.
I arrived at the hospital a day before my surgery and had my preliminary tests. I was pleasantly surprised at the level of knowledge and professionalism in all doctors that I met that day.
I also got a chance to meet with Prof Schaarschmidt. He had a quick look at my chest and we discussed about the surgery. Although the meeting was short, I was relieved since I was a bit worried having only talked to him via emails. He seemed really kind and caring and left me with a very positive impression

The next day, the day of the operation, the nurses took me to the operation room shortly after waking up. The anaesthetist put the anaesthetics and a surgeon covered me with a wonderful warm blanket which was the last thing I remember.
The surgery lasted around 4 hours and it was a success!. I woke up feeling weirdly uncomfortable with 2 bars along my chest and a lot of tubes going in and out of me. It is hard to describe the feeling, it wasnt so much the pain, it sort of felt like a boa constrictor was wrapped around me really tight and felt very difficult expanding my upper chest to breathe. But, my chest looked completely dent free!! It did look a bit too flat at that point but thankfully it looks alot more natural today.
I stayed in the intensive care unit for 5 days. During this period I had a lot of pain, most of it was actually coming from one of the large suction tubes that where inserted along my back rather than from the surgery itself. I was lying on this tube all this time which was compressing against my back muscles.

On the 5th day, the suction tubes were removed, which was a big relieve, and I was moved the the normal ward. From there on the pain was alot more manageable and I got better every day. The nurses where great, they where very experienced with patients having this type of surgery.
There was a physiotherapist visiting me daily, and showing/helping me do breathing excercises, walking, bicycling and some stretching exercises

I am very pleased with my decision to have this surgery with Prof Shaarschmidt. I had a very pleasant experience throughout my stay at the Helios hospital. All staff where super professional and knew what they where doing.
I am very pleased with the results, my chest now looks great! and my posture/back and heart problems seem to have subsided.

Thank you Prof Schaarschmidt!!



Nuss Procedure with Prof Schaarschmidt

I'm a 28 year old New Zealander who had Nuss/reverse Nuss performed at Helios Klinikum (Berlin-Buch). I've had a noticeable pectus deformity since early childhood and have tolerated the physical issues which typically arise from it since teenage-hood; e.g. ever-present shortness of breath, chest discomfort during exercise, reduced stamina, poor posture etc. For most of my life, I've wanted to repair my chest in order to increase my quality of life by resolving these issues. I wasn't so concerned about the cosmetic aspect, though in retrospect, I very much appreciate that my chest now looks completely normal!

Based on my internet research over the years, I decided that Professor Schaarschmidt would be the best choice of surgeon, given that he is renowned as one of the best in the world, and the cost of operation is not only comparatively reasonable but considerably lower than various hospitals in the US/England. Nevertheless, I spent 6 months going through the NZ public health system in an attempt to obtain a proper diagnosis for my condition and gauge/prove how much it affects my sleep and breathing. Frankly, it was a joke. Some of the doctors had never heard of pectus excavatum, despite it being relatively common. Even more experienced consultants and surgeons dismissed my concerns, and by the end, I had received a vague patchy diagnosis of having 'some variant of PE which they didn't understand' and couldn't be bothered researching.

By contrast, I met with Prof. Schaarschmidt 6 months prior to my surgery and within 10 seconds of seeing my chest, he instantly diagnosed me with Currarino-Silverman syndrome, a PE/PC hybrid. He clearly outlined the physiological effects of this condition and the prognosis if left untreated. He told me it was trickier to repair than regular PE or PC, but quite doable.

I opted for surgery and had the sandwich operation performed which involved two bars being inserted, one to treat the PE and one to treat the PC. The operation itself went quite smoothly, and I was able to transfer from intensive care to the regular ward after 2 days. My pain and discomfort was actually lower than expected and quite manageable. My main annoyance at the time was not being able to shower myself until I had my catheters removed after a week :)

The physiotherapist gave me 3 breathing machines which I was to use every waking hour, in order to increase my lung capacity and train my chest to deal with its new anatomy. As soon as possible after the op, I engaged in physical exercise such as walking up and down stairs and around the hospital, and using the exercise bike. My in-hospital recovery was generally quite smooth except that I had pleural effusion which had to be punctured before I was discharged after 18 days and unfortunately recurred until 5-6 weeks post-op. But it was absolutely no problem for me to return to the hospital for a further puncture and another checkup later after that. Anyhow, pleural effusion is a semi-common problem after any sort of chest surgery, and it resolves itself before too long.

After 3 weeks, I was able to travel alone and support myself without much issue. After 4 weeks, I returned to work. After 6 weeks, I was able to go jogging and cut out pain medication (nightly ibuprofen). And now, 10 weeks post-op, I am returning to the gym to resume weight-training and cardio.

Overall, I'm pleased with the result, physically and cosmetically. Prof. Schaarschmidt is a very professional, experienced and understanding surgeon, unafraid of even the most difficult cases. Even in spite of the fact that I speak no German, the nurses were nice, competent and helpful. I would certainly recommend Prof. Schaarschmidt and Helios Kliniken to anyone looking to repair their pectus problem, and I'll be returning for bar removal in 3 years time.

Hi to all of you out there with a pectus deformity.
I am a Greek pharmacist that lives and works in Sweden 2 years now.Since my adolescense ,age of 15-16 ,i have been struggling with a pectus deformity,which is called pectus carinatum as i discovered later.My pectus carinatum influenced a big part of my life especially my personal one and made me feel less and inadequate.A bumb of about 6 centimeteres in the right side of my chest played a negative role that should never play.I always tried to fix it either with weight lifting and proper protein nutrition or with clothing that would hide and conceal the problem.It was only 3 years ago,after extensive google searching when i found out not only that there are many individuals with the same agonizing problem but that there is also a surgical procedure out there promising a pectus carinatum free life.This procedure was immediately ranked in my top 5 priorities.
In Europe the first choice to have the operation would be in Berlin by professor Klaus Schaarschmidt and his team. I had read many reviews and experiences from other patients before took the decision to undergo the procedure in Germany.All the expenditure were paid by a loan i had taken from a swedish bank and my personal savings ,and there is also a possibility to get back some of the money or even the whole amount when i hand over the receipts in the swedish health system.So as you can realise i was really determined to get rid of this obstacle in my life no matter what.
The surgery was planned for the 26th of July after having exchanged several emails with the doctor who also evaluated the severity of my condition through some photos taken by me.I arrived in Berlin 2 days earlier with my parents ,both of them stayed in a pension located nearby.I was admitted to the clinic one day before the surgery in order to do some necessary preliminary tests like x-rays ,blood testing... and also in order to be properly examined by the doctor.The surgery lasted about 4,5 hours as my parents explained later.The most important things to notice through my days in the intensive care are that the pain management was amazing.the nurses were very helpful and supportive and my progress and improvement were much faster than i could ever imagine.The pain was effectively controlled via en epidural and the only somehow painful activity was to do breathing exercises with 2 drains inside my chest.Moreover one common and the only complication that occurred was air between my chest and left lung which was treated by the re-insertion of the left drain that was probably too early removed.Other positive aspects to notice are that i walked from day one and that the overall pain experience is already a distant blur memory -only 2 weeks have passed since i had the surgery-.After the intensive care i was moved to the children department where i stayed for 5 days.Things there were much easier there considering i was significantly much better psysically .
The results of the surgery are very satisfying however not perfect -i dont know if they could ever be so.There is still a small bumb which the doctor said that can be fixed together with the bar removal and the reattachment after 2-3 years.However my chest is 90 percent normal so i am satisfied with the results and would definately recommend the procedure by drSchaarschmidt to all of you that are thinking having it.3 things you also must have in mind are that you will wear a special bandage for about a month,you must do your breathing exercises everyday for a month and last but not least it is possible to live a life without pectus carinatum -i am one of the many living examples.Thank you dr Schaarschmidt.!!!