- 
            Bernd Niemann 1
                   
                  Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, University Hospital Giessen, Germany 
- 
            Christian Stoppe 2
                   
                  Department of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine, University Hospital Würzburg,
               Würzburg, Bavaria, Germany 3
                   
                  Abiomed, Abiomed, Danvers, Massachusetts, United States 
- 
            Michael Wittenberg 4
                   
                  Coordinating Center for Clinical Trials, Philipps-University of Marburg, Marburg,
               Hessia, Germany 
- 
            Susanne Rohrbach 5
                   
                  Institute of Physiology, Justus-Liebig-University Giessen, Giessen, Hessen, Germany 
- 
            Diyar Saeed 6
                   
                  Department for Cardiac Surgery, Leipzig Heart Center, Leipzig, Germany 
- 
            Michael Billion 7
                   
                  Department of Cardiac Surgery, Schüchtermann Hospital Bad Rothenfelde, Bad Rothenfelde,
               Niedersachsen, Germany 
- 
            Evgenij Potapov 8
                   
                  Department of Cardiac Surgery, Deutsches Herzzentrum Berlin Ringgold Standard Institution,
               Berlin, Berlin, Germany 
- 
            Mehmet Oezkur 9
                   
                  Department of Cardiac and Vascular Surgery, University of Mainz, Mainz, Germany 
- 
            Payam Akhyari 
                10
                   
                  Department of Cardiac Surgery, Medical Faculty, Heinrich Heine University, Düsseldorf,
               Germany 
- 
            Bastian Schmack 11
                   
                  Department of Cardiac Surgery, University of Essen, Essen, Germany 
- 
            David Schibilsky 12
                   
                  Department of Cardiac Surgery, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany 
- 
            Alexander M. Bernhardt 
                13
                   
                  Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, University Heart Center Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany 
- 
            Jan D. Schmitto 14
                   
                  Department of Cardiac-, Thoracic-, Transplantation- and Vascular Surgery, Hannover
               Medical School, Hannover, Germany 
- 
            Christian Hagl 15
                   
                  Department of Cardiothoracic, Transplantation and Vascular Surgery, Hannover Medical
               School, München, Germany 
- 
            Paolo Masiello 16
                   
                  Department of Cardiac Surgery, San Giovanni di Dio e R.A. Hospital, Salerno, Salerno,
               Italy 
- 
            Andreas Böning 1
                   
                  Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, University Hospital Giessen, Germany