Numbers that speak volumes!

Certainly, the numbers do not say everything, but they give a glimpse of the excitement-and the pursuit of excellence-that can be found at the Montréal Heart Institute.

A. Interventions

Each year, the Institute treats more than 2,000 patients presenting infarction and unstable angina, and it performs approximately...

• 6,500 cardiac catheterizations, 2,7 00 of which are coronary angioplasties
• 1,600 electrophysiological procedures (including defibrillators, fulgurations and cardiac resynchronizations)
• 1,850 cardiac surgeries

The outcomes of these treatments show remarkably low complication rates, based on standards set by the American College of Cardiology. For example, there is a 1.6% complication rate following coronary angioplasty, which ranks the Institute on par with the prestigious Cleveland Clinic (1.3%).

Each year, the following procedures are performed, on average, at the Institute:

• 1,850 surgical interventions, consisting of
  -  1,200 coronary bypasses
  -     650 valve surgeries
• 6,500 hemodynamic procedures
• 1,600 electrophysiological procedures
• 15 heart transplants
• 45 heart surgeries because of congenital problems (adults only)

Each year, the Institute sees the following numbers of patients, on average:

• 8,700 patients are hospitalized, of which 2,000 for short-stay
• 14,300 patients for emergencies
• 36,500 patients for outpatient clinic consultations

B. The team

The Institute consists of 1,400 people:

• 400 nurses
• 195 doctors (81 full-time), including:
  -  44 cardiologists
  -    9 cardiovascular surgeons
  -   11 anesthesiologists
• Almost 75 researchers specializing in clinical, basic and applied research
• Some 60 residents each year, across eight specialties: anesthesiology, cardiology, cardiac surgery, internal medicine, nuclear medicine, psychosomatic medicine, physiatry and radiology

C. The facilities

The Institute includes:

• 153 beds, including 42 in medical intensive care and 29 in surgical intensive care
• 4 operating rooms
• 4 hemodynamic rooms
• 2 electrophysiology rooms
• 1 angioradiology room
• 1 magnetic resonance imaging room dedicated to cardiovascular patients
• 8 clinical departments: medicine, psychosomatic medicine, nuclear medicine, cardiac surgery, anesthesiology, radiology, medical biology and pharmacy

D. Research

The Montréal Heart Institute's Research Centre brings together more than 200 people, including approximately 100 scientists and no less than 75 of the best researchers. The latter specialize in such areas as basic research in cardiology and surgery, radiological and nuclear imaging, psychiatry, psychology, biology, and others. Approximately 125 undergraduate and postgraduate students assist these high-level specialists at the Research Centre, which enjoys a position of considerable influence.

E. Prevention

Providing the latest treatments is essential, but it is just as important to curb the increasing incidence of cardiovascular disease. That is why the Institute has a team dedicated to prevention, whose mandate is to plan and implement the major trends in the prevention of cardiovascular disease, and to manage the MHI's Centre for Preventive Medicine and Physical Activity (ÉPIC Centre). This centre is the largest facility for cardiovascular disease prevention in Canada, with 4,000 participants in primary and secondary prevention.

F. Teaching

Internationally renowned for training and its specialization in cardiovascular diseases, the Montréal Heart Institute ensures its students that they will receive very high-quality instruction offered by teachers who are learned experts in their field. Doctors from the Institute conduct the training programs in Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery at the Université de Montréal. The majority of cardiologists and cardiac surgeons practising in Quebec were trained at the MHI.

Each year, the Institute welcomes some fifty medical students from the Université de Montréal and some sixty residents from across eight specialties. As well, each year, more than 100 students in nursing, respiratory therapy, physiotherapy, nutrition, electrocardiography, and laboratory techniques do their internship at the Institute as the facility offers training programs to healthcare professionals from related disciplines. In fact, the Institute is the only facility authorized to provide practical training to nurse practitioners specializing in cardiology from the Université de Montréal.