Cardiac surgery

The department of surgery at the Montreal Heart Institute brings together nine surgeons and features four operating rooms. Members of the department perform more than 2,000 procedures annually. Fields of expertise cover all areas of contemporary cardiac surgery. Complex myocardial revascularization surgery using extra-corporeal circulation and the beating heart procedure accounts for roughly 1,100 cases annually. Valvular surgery accounts for more than 650 cases. This important growth sector encompasses all aspects of mitral and aortic valvular reconstruction, together with reconstructive surgery of the ascending and thoracic aorta, including an endovascular surgery program.

Every year, some 15 to 20 heart transplants are performed and some 10 to 15 mechanical hearts are implanted. In concert with the department of medicine and the Adult Congenital Heart Centre, the department of surgery ensures the complete correction of all adult congenital pathologies as a result of a partnership with Hôpital Sainte-Justine.

The surgery team also boasts a very active research program. Leading-edge areas of basic research include vascular rejection in post-cardiac transplants, mathematical modeling of ascending aorta diseases in collaboration with the École Polytechnique, as well as the development of left ventricular assistance. Clinical research activities target the evolution of post myocardial revascularisation coronary disease as well as the clinical progress of surgically corrected valvular pathologies.

The head of the MHI surgery department has held the Michal and Renata Hornstein Heart Surgery Chair since November 2004. The objective of this chair is to develop an academic program in minimally-invasive robotic valvular surgery. Other research chair projects in surgery are also underway.

Every year, the surgery department takes in 15 to 20 students and fellows from the Université de Montréal as well as from abroad. Quebec residents must apply for clinical rotations through the director of their cardiac surgery program. For more on how to apply for residency positions, candidates from Quebec and Canada are invited to consult Université de Montréal Web site.

The department of cardiac surgery offers one- or two-year fellowships to physicians from Canada and abroad. Fellows are active participants in clinical surgery and in scientific and research activities. They are also expected to perform on-call duty in the hospital's surgical intensive care unit.

Candidates are asked to make their own funding arrangements. The MHI's department of surgery does offer scholarships; however, a limited number are available and they are awarded on a competitive basis.