Resident Teaching Conferences

Saturday, November 19, 2005 9:20 AM

The monthly schedule of rounds and resident teaching conferences is posted on the conferences page. The page now includes a hyperlink to download the calendar as a PDF file.

Saturday, November 19, 2005 8:21 AM

The 58th annual meeting of the Canadian Cardiovascular Society was held in Montreal between October 22-26, 2005. The following abstracts from the McGill Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery were presented:

Majnemer A, Limperopoulos C, Shevell M, Rohlicek CV, Rosenblatt B, Tchervenkov C

Neurodevelopmental outcome at school entry of children who underwent open-heart surgery during infency

Lachapelle K, Chaturvedi RK, de Varennes B, Ergina P, Cecere R

The preoperative parsonnet score predicts early and late survival following cardiac surgery in octogenarians

Del Duca D, Iqbal S, Rahme E, Goldberg P, de Varennes B

Acute renal failure after cardiac surgery: incidence and perioperative risk factors

Luo J, Duong M, Wan C, Teng CJ, Chiu R, Shum-Tim D

The immature heart: the role of bone marrow stromal stem cells in growth and myocardial repair

Grenon SM, Hurwitz S, Xiao X, Kim C, Cohen RJ, Williams GH

Midodrine does not prevent orthostatic intolerance in women exposed to simulated microgravity

Grenon SM, Xiao X, Hurwitz S, Kim C, Cohen RJ, Williams GH

The impact of gender on orthostatic tolerance and on the renal, cardiovascular and cardio-endocrine responses to simulated microgravity

Saturday, May 8, 2004 3:29 PM

The McGill Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery is pleased to welcome Dr. Vaughn Alden Starnes from the University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine as the 37th annual Stikeman Visiting Professor on Thursday, May 13.

Dr. Starnes is well known for his expertise in congenital heart surgery, heart transplantation and cardiac assist devices. Dr. Starnes will deliver two lectures in the Forbes-Cushing Amphitheatre (Montreal Children's Hospital, Room D-182) on Thursday, May 13th. The first lecture, entitled "Living Lobar Lung Transplantation - Ten Year Experience" will be given at surgical grand rounds at 7:30 a.m. The second lecture, "The Ross Operation: The Ideal Operation for Children with Aortic Valve Disease" will be given at 4:00 p.m.

The full program in PDF format can be downloaded here.

Weekly Teaching Conferences and M&M rounds

Thursday March 30, 2005

The resident teaching schedule has recently been revised and is continuously being updated. Teaching conferences will now take place every Thursday at 7:30AM at the Royal Victoria Hospital. Check your email for location. M&M rounds will continue to be held every Monday at 17h00 in the S10 amphitheatre at the Royal Victoria Hospital.

Incoming / Departing Residents

Tuesday, June 24, 2003 10:57 PM

Two new residents are joining the cardiac surgery program this year courtesy of the CaARMS match. Congratulations are extended to Dr. Rony Atoui and Dr. Samantha Hill. Dr. Turki Al-Backer from Saudi Arabia will also be joining the program on July 1st.

36th Annual Stikeman Visiting Professorship

Saturday, June 14, 2003 6:14 PM

The 35th Annual Stikeman Day was held at the McGill University Health Centre on May 15th, with many McGill Cardiothoracic Alumni returning to take part in the event.

This year's Stikeman Visiting Professor was Dr. David Craig Miller from the Stanford School of Medicine. Dr. Miller's lecture entitled "Have we made any progress in the last 20 years for patient's with acute type A aortic dissection" was given at Surgical Grand Rounds on Thursday Morning, and was followed by presentations from residents, staff and alumni. The annual dinner was held at the University Club and was enjoyed by all who attended.

Recent Publications

Monday, November 25, 2002 1:07 PM

Recent Publications

Sunday, August 25, 2002 6:54 PM

The Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery has two publications appearing in the July issue of the Annals of Thoracic Surgery.

Drs. Takayuki Saito, Jin-Qiang Kuang, Bindu Bittira, Abdulaziz Al-Khaldi, and Dr. Ray C-J Chiu have published a paper entitled Xenotransplant Cardiac Chimera: Immune Tolerance of Adult Stem Cells. This research examines the unique immunologic characteristics of adult bone marrow stromal cells which allows their engraftment and survival of a xenogenic environment.

Drs. Kevin Lachapelle, Benoit deVarennes, Patrick Ergina and Renzo Cecere have published their experience with Sutureless Patch Technique for Postinfarction Ventricular Rupture. Six cases between January 1993 and June 2001 are reveiwed, and the authors conclude that this technique is "simple, effective and associated with favorable outcome."

Minor Updates

The summer resident teaching schedule has been updated.

Several pictures from Stikeman Day 2002 have been posted. They can be accessed here.

The website has recently relocated to a newer, faster server. For those of you experiencing difficulty accessing the site, please update your bookmarks.

Dr. Dominique Shum-Tim Awarded Two FRSQ Research Grants

Wednesday, July 10, 2002 9:08 PM

Dr. Dominique Shum-Tim was recently two FRSQ research grants. Dr. Shum-Tim writes:

"My current research activity focuses on two main areas. The first one is the Management of Cardiopulmonary Bypass and Cerebral Protection during Pediatric Cardiac Surgery. This research project basically brings our bedside cardiopulmonary bypass protocols and studies them in a controlled bench-side experimental condition. As the outcome of complex cardiac surgery is improving in the pediatric population, the neurological morbidity has become a prominent issue. This research is aimed at improving the quality of life and social dependence of many of our patients following repair of cardiac malformations. As you know, we have received our first peer-reviewed award, the Jonathan Ballon Award, from the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Quebec in 2000. With this Award, we have been able to continue our work which I have started since I was in Boston and thus far, we have presented our work at the Society of Thoracic Surgeons, the American College of Surgeons and the American Heart Association. As a busy clinical surgeon, the Award from the FRSQ undoubtedly provides me with some protective time to continue my interest as an academic surgeon. Hopefully, it will continue to help my lab to achieve our goals.

My second area of research is in Tissue Engineering, which I also spent some time doing while in Boston. As soon as I returned to McGill, my mutual collaboration with my mentor, Dr. Ray C-J Chiu, had become inevitable. We had multiple publications in the peer-reviewed Forum, in addition to several honors and Awards won by our residents. At the time of this writing, I am very excited also to receive an Award led by Dr. Thomas M.S. Chang, from the Department of Physiology, in a joint venture of medical research in the area of transfusion medicine. Together, we have recently received an FRSQ grant-in-aid Award (approximately $350,000/year) for the next three consecutive years. My role in this particular project is to use artificial red blood cells during cardiopulmonary bypass, specifically to minimize systemic inflammatory reaction, as well as neuroprotection. This special award has given me the unique opportunity to work with our basic scientists, as well as unifying my dual interest in "cellular engineering" and "protection of the brain during cardiopulmonary bypass". I hope this exciting future will be a productive one and I am very excited to be able to contribute to this academic achievement as a member of the surgical department."

Summer Resident Teaching Schedule is Up

Please take a moment to check out the updated summer schedule for resident tutorials. The schedule can also be accessed via the conferences page.

McGill Cardiac Surgery Residents Win Research Awards

Dr. Hilal Al-Sabti won second prize at last week's Annual Fraser Gurd Day competition for his presentation entitled Delivery of Marrow Stromal Cells for Angiogenesis: Therapeutic Implications.

Dr. Derek MacDonald recently took first place in the oral competition at the Montreal Children's Hospital Research Institute Annual Research Day for his presentation "Xenogenic Bone Marrow Stromal Cell Implantation Into Acutely Ischemic Myocardium Improves Cardiac Function." Dr. MacDonald also received first prize in the oral presentation category at the 2nd Annual McGill Biomedical Graduate Conference for a presentation entitled Xenotransplantation of Bone Marrow Stromal Cells as a Source of Myocardial Tissue Regeneration.

Recent Publications

Drs. Christo Tchervenkov and Steve Korkola have a publication appearing the April issue of the Annals of Thoracic Surgery entitled Single-stage anatomical repair of complete atrioventricular canal, double-outlet right ventricle, and cor triatriatum using ventricular septal defect translocation. (Ann Thorac Surg 2002 73: 1317-1320). The abstract is available for viewing here.

A recent letter to the editor of Scientific American Magazine from Dr. Ray C-J Chiu addressing the controversy surrounding the need for therapeutic cloning was published in the May 2002 issue.

New Website Design

Wednesday, May 22, 2002 7:07 PM

The website has been completely redesigned with a new look and structure. Please take the time to browse the site, and be sure to check out the updated faculty and residents' sections. If you encounter any errors while navigating the website we would appreciate your feedback.

Dr. Ray Chiu Gives Guest Lecture at the University of Ottawa

Saturday, May 18, 2002 7:31 PM

Dr. Ray C-J Chiu was the visiting professor at the University of Ottawa's annual Collin's Day. Dr. Chiu's lecture entitled "Regenerative Cardiology and Stem Cell Biology" was very well received. This wraps up a very busy Spring for Dr. Chiu, who recently attended meetings of the United States National Institute of Health and the American Association for Thoracic Surgery after returning from an extended trip to the Far East.

McGill Resident wins Terrence Donnelly Research Award for Third Consecutive Year

Saturday, May 11, 2002 7:36 PM

For the third consecutive year, a McGill cardiac surgery resident has won the presteigous Bigelow Prize at the 6th Annual Terrence Donnelly Cardiac Surgery Residents' Research Day. Dr. Abdulaziz Al-Khaldi's presentation on "Therapeutic Angiogenesis Using Autologous Bone Marrow Stromal Cells: Improved Blood Flow in a Chronic Hind Limb Ischemia Model" secured first prize in the basic science research category.

This year's conference was hosted at the Royal York Hotel in Toronto, with seven McGill residents attending the event. The visiting professor was Dr. Carlos Duran from The International Heart Institute of Montana. Professor Duran conducted a wetlab with the residents, demonstrating the techniques of mitral valve repair.

35th Annual Stikeman Visiting Professorship