Dr. Danièle Berdajs

Dr. Danièle Berdajs is one of Luxembourg's most distinguished cardiac surgeons and cardiologists, based at the Centre Hospitalier de Luxembourg (CHL) in Luxembourg City — the country's largest and most comprehensive public hospital. With over 25 years of experience spanning both interventional cardiology and open cardiac surgery, Dr. Berdajs occupies a uniquely broad clinical role that reflects Luxembourg's healthcare model, where specialists in smaller nations often bridge consulting and surgical disciplines that would be strictly separated in larger hospital systems.

Dr. Berdajs completed her medical training at the Université de Strasbourg in France before undertaking her residency at the Hôpitaux Universitaires de Genève (HUG) in Switzerland and a prestigious fellowship in cardiothoracic surgery at the University of Vienna Medical Centre in Austria. She returned to Luxembourg to join the CHL cardiac team, where she has since risen to lead the department's surgical programme. Her dual competency in cardiology consultation and cardiac surgery makes her an invaluable resource in a national healthcare system that must efficiently allocate specialist expertise.

At the CHL, Dr. Berdajs manages the full spectrum of cardiac surgical cases, from elective coronary artery bypass grafting in stable patients to urgent valve surgery in acute presentations. She has championed the adoption of minimally invasive surgical approaches and has been instrumental in establishing the CHL's TAVI (Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation) programme, enabling elderly and high-risk patients to receive aortic valve replacement without open-heart surgery. She collaborates closely with cardiologists, anaesthesiologists, and the multidisciplinary heart team to ensure optimal patient outcomes.

Dr. Berdajs is widely regarded for her commitment to patient-centred care, offering consultations in French, German, Luxembourgish, and English to serve Luxembourg's multilingual and international resident population. She also receives referrals from the Greater Region — encompassing Lorraine (France), Saarland (Germany), and the Belgian province of Luxembourg — reflecting her reputation across borders.

Dr. Berdajs earned her Doctor of Medicine (MD) degree from the Université de Strasbourg, Faculty of Medicine, graduating with distinction. She subsequently undertook her residency in cardiac surgery at the Hôpitaux Universitaires de Genève (HUG), gaining foundational training in adult cardiac surgery, congenital heart disease, and thoracic procedures. She then completed a fellowship in advanced cardiothoracic surgery at the Medical University of Vienna, Austria, specialising in valve surgery and minimally invasive techniques under internationally recognised mentors. She was awarded the Fellow of the European Association for Cardio-Thoracic Surgery (FEACTS) designation in recognition of her surgical expertise and academic contributions. She also holds a PhD in cardiovascular sciences from the Université Catholique de Louvain (UCLouvain) in Belgium, focused on surgical outcomes in valve repair across European patient cohorts. Her training combined the precision of Swiss and Austrian cardiac surgical programmes with French academic rigour, giving her a uniquely pan-European clinical foundation.

Dr. Berdajs's clinical expertise encompasses the full breadth of adult cardiac surgery and cardiology consultation. Her primary surgical specialisations include coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) — both on-pump and off-pump — for patients with multi-vessel coronary artery disease, as well as complex mitral valve repair and aortic valve replacement surgery. She has a particular interest in valve-sparing operations, preserving native tissue wherever surgically feasible, which is associated with better long-term outcomes and reduced need for anticoagulation.

In the interventional and structural cardiology domain, Dr. Berdajs leads the CHL's TAVI programme, performing transcatheter aortic valve implantation for patients who are ineligible or high-risk for conventional open surgery. She also undertakes cardiac catheterisation, coronary angiography, and echocardiographic assessment as part of the pre-operative work-up and ongoing cardiac surveillance for her patients.

Conditions commonly referred to Dr. Berdajs include coronary artery disease, aortic stenosis, mitral valve regurgitation, heart failure requiring surgical intervention, and aortic aneurysms requiring surgical repair. She chairs the CHL multidisciplinary heart team, ensuring that every surgical candidate is thoroughly discussed in a collaborative setting before any intervention is undertaken.

Dr. Berdajs has authored and co-authored more than 60 peer-reviewed publications in leading cardiovascular journals including the European Journal of Cardio-Thoracic Surgery, the Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, and the European Heart Journal. Her primary research interests centre on minimally invasive cardiac surgical techniques, valve repair outcomes in smaller European population cohorts, and the epidemiology of valvular heart disease in Luxembourg. She has collaborated extensively with the European Association for Cardio-Thoracic Surgery (EACTS) on multicentre outcome registries and has contributed to EACTS clinical practice guidelines for valve surgery. Her doctoral work examined long-term durability of mitral valve repair across European centres, producing findings that were cited in international guideline updates. She also leads a prospective registry at the CHL tracking TAVI outcomes in the Luxembourgish population, the data from which has been shared with the EuroSCORE II risk stratification consortium.

Dr. Berdajs regularly consults with and operates on patients from across Europe, including the Greater Region of Luxembourg encompassing patients from France, Germany, and Belgium who access CHL under cross-border EU healthcare agreements. She conducts consultations in French, German, Luxembourgish, and English, ensuring that patients from diverse linguistic backgrounds can communicate directly without interpretation barriers. International patients visiting CHL for cardiac surgery benefit from the hospital's comprehensive coordination services, including pre-operative cardiac work-up, post-operative rehabilitation referrals, and discharge planning that accommodates patients returning to home countries. EU citizens can access treatment at the CHL under the European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) framework or through S2 cross-border healthcare authorisations. Non-EU international patients are accommodated through the CHL's international patient office, which assists with insurance billing, translation, and logistical support.

Dr. Berdajs has received numerous honours recognising her surgical excellence and research contributions. She was awarded the EACTS Fellowship (FEACTS) by the European Association for Cardio-Thoracic Surgery, one of the most distinguished recognitions in European cardiac surgery. The Luxembourg Medical Society presented her with its Medical Recognition Award for sustained clinical and scientific contribution to cardiac care in the Grand Duchy. She also received the CHL Research Prize for her leadership of the hospital's TAVI outcome registry and her broader commitment to evidence-based cardiac surgery. Dr. Berdajs has served on the scientific committee of the EACTS Annual Meeting and has been invited to speak at international cardiac surgery congresses in Vienna, Paris, and Brussels.