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The MUHC is proud to announce the inauguration of its new state-of-the-art Cardiac Catheterization and Percutaneous Coronary Intervention (PCI) Centre (Cath Lab).

The equipment in the new high-tech PCI Centre, or Cath Lab, is used to diagnose and treat obstructions in the arteries of a patient's heart. A physician can then determine whether the best course of treatment is angioplasty or cardiac surgery. Angioplasty is a day procedure that is usually performed in the PCI Centre right after diagnostic testing is completed.

The new PCI Centre is a self-contained unit consisting of the latest digital technology, a seven-bed monitored preparation area, ergonomically designed to prevent contamination and allow seamless transfer of patients from referring hospitals or the coronary intensive care unit (CICU). Two new digital catherization labs have been equipped with intravascular ultrasound machines, rotablator equipment and pressure wire. The cath labs can also be used with highly specialized electrophysiology equipment to diagnose and treat complex arrythmias and complex cardiac disease, including valvular heart disease and adult congenital heart disease. A special multimedia teaching room for cardiac fellows has been installed for the largest training program in Canada.

The sterilization utility room has been designed to maximize infection control and minimize the spread of diseases such as MRSA, VRE and C-dif. In addition, biohazards material processing is followed to the highest standards. The unit is located in close proximity to the emergency department to facilitate and to ensure direct and rapid access to treatment. "Access to prompt treatment saves lives, prevents heart failure and saves hospitalization costs," says Dr. Genest.

This up-to-date PCI Centre is fully functional and ready to deliver urgent treatment to victims of acute heart attacks. It allows the MUHC to meet the requirements of a C3-level tertiary cardiovascular hospital (the highest level of care in Quebec). The facility will be part of a "réseau integré du traitement de l'infarctus du myocarde (RITIM)." "It will provide the population with a cardiac catherization lab that can perform state-of-the-art diagnosis and treatment of artherosclerosis of coronary arteries — the main cause of morbidity and mortality in Canada," explains Dr. Jacques Genest, MUHC Director of cardiology. "Essentially, this new centre will help us to provide the best cardiac care for life."

The MUHC performs about 4,000 cardiac catheterization procedures per year and delivers service to the entire population of the ÁùºÏ²Ê¿ª½±½á¹û RUIS: about 1.7 million people in a region that covers western Montreal to the US border and extends up into northern Quebec.

This 4.5-million-dollar project was supported by the following: the J.W. McConnell Family Foundation, Leonard and Sandra Schlemm, the Birks Family Foundation, Robert and Alicia Johnson, and the Royal Victoria Hospital Foundation, and is a priority of the MUHC's Best Care for Life campaign. It is the first of three phases, and will centralize all MUHC tertiary cardiac care in anticipation of the move to the Glen campus. The new unit will firmly establish the MUHC as one of three major PCI centres in Quebec.

Members of the media will be given an opportunity to tour the new unit and get a first-hand demonstration of the equipment on a patient on October 20, 2005.

About the ÁùºÏ²Ê¿ª½±½á¹û Health Centre (MUHC)

The ÁùºÏ²Ê¿ª½±½á¹û Health Centre (MUHC) is a comprehensive academic health institution with an international reputation for excellence in clinical programs, research and teaching. The MUHC is a merger of five teaching hospitals affiliated with the Faculty of Medicine at ÁùºÏ²Ê¿ª½±½á¹û — the Montreal Children's, Montreal General, Royal Victoria, and Montreal Neurological Hospitals, as well as the Montreal Chest Institute. Building on the tradition of medical leadership of the founding hospitals, the goal of the MUHC is to provide patient care based on the most advanced knowledge in the health care field, and to contribute to the development of new knowledge.

For more information and to visit the MUHC PCI centre contact:
Seeta Ramdass
Public Relations & Communications Coordinator
MUHC Public Relations & Communications
514-843-1560