Source of national and international innovation

The Institute began to innovate from the moment it was founded in 1954. In fact, at the time, it was the first hospital in Canada to group all cardiology services under one roof. This model was subsequently copied in various other countries, namely the United States, Morocco, the Ivory Coast, Dominican Republic, Greece and France. The Institute has since achieved numerous significant milestones in the development of cardiology both nationally and internationally.

International firsts

• The first intramyocardial implantation of the internal mammary artery, which preceded the development of aortocoronary bypasses, in 1955.
• The first selective femoral coronography, in 1964.
• MHI specialists were the first to publish a description of the blockages that occur in grafts after an aortocoronary bypass, which helped to modify heart surgery techniques throughout the world, 1972-1974.
• The first percutaneous laser coronary dilatation, in 1987.

Canadian firsts

• The first hospital specializing in cardiology, in 1954.
• The first cardiac procedure using an artificial heart-lung machine, in 1957 (first in Québec).
• The first heart transplant, in 1968.
• The first coronary angioplasty, in 1980.
• The first percutaneous aortic valvular dilatation, in 1986.
• The first mitral valve dilatation, in 1987.
• The first post-infarction percutaneous closure of an interventricular septal defect, in 2002.
• The first combined treatment of an interventricular septal defect and a heart bypass, in 2003.