June 17, 2008 : Company announcement

Consist donates to Kiel research project

A strong heart for little patients

Consist Software Solutions is supporting the Kinderherzzentrum Kiel (Kiel Children's Heart Center) with a donation of 15.000 Euros. The money will be used for a current research project testing gentler methods for examination of children with only one chamber in their hearts.
Kiel – Consist Software Solutions presented the amount of 15.000 Euros yesterday to the German foundation Stiftung KinderHerz Deutschland gGmbH, in the Clinic of Pediatric Cardiology of the University Medical Center Schleswig-Holstein.
On the occasion of its 25-year anniversary reception on January 25, 2008, instead of gifts, the Kiel IT company asked for donations for the Stiftung KinderHerz, collecting over 5,300 Euros. Consist is now rounding that sum out to 15.000 Euros. "We are happy to help children with heart disease, and our donation is supporting a center of excellence with a high degree of medical know-how: the Kiel Children's Heart Center", says Consist CEO Martin Lochte-Holtgreven in explanation of the company's regional social engagement for the young generation. The business management of Consist simultaneously thanked the numerous donors.
The money will support a research project started in April, 2008 to improve the non-invasive functional analysis of single-chambered hearts at the Kiel Children's Heart Center.

About the research project: Testing gentler methods for heart examinations

Every year, about 7,000 children in Germany are born with heart defects, about two percent of whom have a hypoplastic left heart syndrome. The left chamber of the heart is extremely underdeveloped in this condition, so that the body is not supplied with sufficient oxygenated blood. Surgery can allow the right chamber of the heart to help handle this function. However, it is not naturally designed to pump blood in circulation, and can be overloaded. Thus after a successful operation, the early detection of any possible functional deficiencies in the right cham-ber of the heart is very important.
The use of an intracardiac catheter has conventionally been necessary for these examinations, yielding very reliable results, but at the price of a lot of stress for the children's hearts. The goal of this research project is to compare these results with gentler, non-invasive methods (magnetic resonance tomography and echocardiography.)

About the Kiel team of experts

The area of congenital heart defects requires specialized knowledge and highly developed technology. The Children's Heart Center in Kiel, Schleswig-Holstein, is devoted especially to the treatment of newborns with only a single heart chamber.
In the first few days of these little patients' lives, the first and most difficult of three operations takes place, for which the Kiel team of experts, with their many years of experience, has particular expertise.

About Stiftung KinderHerz

The foundation Stiftung KinderHerz Deutschland supports projects in all significant areas of congenital or acquired heart disease in childhood – from diagnosis and treatment through prevention, including the research and development of new medical methods. In order to ensure the best possible care for children with heart disease, pediatric cardiac centers are needed which are specialized in treating these complicated heart illnesses.
The individual Boards of Trustees champion the cause of local children with heart disease in each respective region. They form a reliable network of supporters, with the goal of optimum support of medical and research resources. The numerous activities of Stiftung KinderHerz Deutschland all serve a single goal: the decisive improvement in the lives of children with heart disease.

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Handover of the check from Consist to the foundation Stiftung KinderHerz gGmbH in the Clinic of Pediatric Cardiology of the University Medical Center Schleswig-Holstein on June 16,, 2008
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