He was one of the top specialists in retinal surgery. The popular Munich doctor suddenly and completely surprisingly died at the age of 58. A shock.

Munich – A lifetime has given everything to help others. But death hit him a lot and out of nowhere: Professor Dr. Dr. Chris Patrick Lohmann suffered a heart attack early in his sleep. He doesn’t wake up anymore. Lohmann was only 58 years old.

Cardiac death in sleep: Great mourning for Munich’s top specialists

The popular Munich * doctor has been head of the eye clinic at the University Hospital on the right of the Isar since 2004. He was one of Germany’s most renowned ophthalmologists, was considered a top specialist in retinal surgery and recently researched, among other things, new therapeutic approaches in the fight against the dreaded age-dependent macular degeneration, which can lead to blindness. “With him, the Free State, the clinic and dying patients are losing an experienced top physician,” said Science Minister Bernd Sibler tz. “My thoughts and my sympathy are with the relatives.”

University clinic on the right of the Isar: news of death causes paralysis

In the university hospital on the right of the Isar *, the news of death caused shock and paralysis. “It’s so terrible, I’m horrified and infinitely sad,” said Prof. Marion Kiechle, head of the women’s clinic, who tz. “Chris was such a great colleague, an empathetic doctor and a loving father.” This was also confirmed by the head of orthopedics, Prof. Rüdiger von Eisenhart-Rothe: “It was impressive to see how loving and understanding Chris was with children. If someone needed his help, he didn’t hesitate for a second. “Marion Kiechle remembers an example:” I was with him because I left my glasses on the train, he immediately gave me two of his reading glasses. When I was about to bring her back, he waved it off – typically Chris. He was just very generous. “

For Prof. Peter Biberthaler, Lohmann’s death is “incredibly brutal”: “Chris was a great guy who was in the middle of life,” recalls the head of trauma surgery. Reliability was Lohmann’s trademark, reports Prof. Bernhard Meyer, head of neurosurgery. “And he had a sense of humor, he also poked fun at himself.” Even when things weren’t so good for him.

“I will no longer win a beauty award with my leg. But at least I can now fit into a ski boot again, so it’s not noticeable, ”said Lohmann tz last week – after he had just recovered from the bite of a dangerous poison spider in the holiday hotel in Dubai – including four operations and a skin graft from the thigh to the foot. He never made a fuss about it. Who wanted to know how he is doing, the surprising Lohmann usually quickly a counter question: How can I help you? “

Cardiac death in sleep: These alarm signals should not be ignored

Around 212,000 heart attack patients are treated in German clinics every year. 44,000 people no longer reach the hospital alive, and quite a few die in their sleep – like Prof. Lohmann. Strokes also often hit patients in bed. “There are indications that certain sleep characteristics influence the risk of suffering a heart or cerebral infarction,” reports Prof. Andreas Stang. He heads a corresponding research project that is funded by the German Heart Foundation. “We know, for example, that the rising blood pressure when people wake up in the morning, whose vessels have already been attacked, can cause blood clots to loosen and thus lead to a heart or cerebral infarction,” explains Dr. Anna-Therese Lehnich.

In some cases a heart attack is announced by alarm signals: severe pain, a feeling of pressure and tightness in the chest, intense burning, sweat with cold, pale skin, vomiting, shortness of breath and pain in the upper abdomen. The Heart Foundation warns against ignoring the harbingers of a heart attack: “According to more recent data, they occur in around 50 percent of heart attack patients 24 to 48 hours before the actual heart attack.” (bez) * tz.de is an offer from IPPEN.MEDIA