LECTURES

Ottawa Heart Institute Alumni Spring Lecture
April 26, 2006

"Minimally Invasive Surgical Revascularization:
First Canadian Series Takes Place at the UOHI"
Dr. Marc Ruel
Associate Professor, Departments of Surgery, Cellular & Molecular Medicine, and Epidemiology; Cardiac Surgeon & Director of Laboratory Research, Division of Cardiac Surgery University of Ottawa Heart Institute

Our Spring Lecture on April 26, 2006, was delivered by Dr. Marc Ruel MD, MPH, FRCSC, FCCP, cardiac surgeon at the University of Ottawa Heart Institute. A native of Québec City, Dr. Ruel received his Medical Doctor degree with Honours from the University of Ottawa in 1994 and his Specialist Certification in Cardiac Surgery in 2000. He was awarded scholarships to pursue post-specialization studies at Harvard University in Boston, Massachusetts.

Dr. Ruel's surgical areas of focus include minimally invasive and beating heart bypass surgery, which diminish the risks associated with surgery in patients with complex medical problems. Dr. Ruel and his team have developed a new bypass surgery procedure that avoids the use of aortic manipulations, the heart-lung machine, the breastbone incision, and vein grafts. The procedure is feasible and can potentially be executed by surgeons who are already very familiar with off-pump bypass procedures.

In his experience with this procedure, the mean length of hospital stay has been four days, and the median number of grafts per patient was three. All patients except one received arterial grafts only. The success of his approach is underscored by the fact that the new procedures were free of major complications and deaths, and all patients were back to full physical activity within a month. As of this writing, all patients remain angina free. Clearly, this Multi Vessel Small Thoracotomy ("MVST") procedure is proving to be feasible and safe, and constitutes an important new tool in the treatment of coronary heart disease.

On behalf of the Alumni, our President, Denny Doucette thanked Dr. Ruel for illuminating us on this important topic and wished Dr. Ruel continued success.

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