Heart & Vascular

The Arrhythmia Clinic serves patients with different types of heart rhythm problems to provide treatment options for their arrhythmia.

The Cardiac and Vascular Surgery Inpatient Unit provides care to patients following heart or vascular surgery or complex intervention. Our team on the unit is composed of a number of highly skilled interprofessional team members who work collaboratively to provide quality patient care.

The Cardiac Intensive Care Unit (CICU) team treats patients with acute coronary syndromes. The CICU also acts as a referral site for advanced interventional cardiology procedures.

The Cardiometabolic Prevention Clinic at St. Michael’s Hospital sees two groups of patients – those living with, and at risk for heart and vascular disease. It provides complimentary preventive care in coordination with primary care physicians and specialists. This unique clinic at the University of Toronto, spearheaded by Dr. Beth Abramson, aims to share best practices in academic preventive cardiology. Her team of cardiac prevention specialists have expertise in modern “precision” medicine to help diagnose and treat cardiovascular risk. 

The Cardiology Inpatient Unit provides care to patients admitted to the hospital for acute heart conditions such as heart failure, arrhythmias and heart attack, among many others. Our team on the unit is composed of a number of highly skilled interprofessional team members who work collaboratively to provide quality patient care.

We have broad access to diagnostic cardiac and vascular testing including electrocardiogram, echocardiography, holter monitoring, nuclear cardiology, cardiac MRI and cardiac CT, along with cardiac catheterization and coronary angiography. We work closely with other subspecialty cardiac groups, as well as cardiac surgery and vascular surgery.

Along with our subspecialty cardiology consult services like heart failure, electrophysiology and structural heart/valve clinic, we provide a wide range of general cardiology consult services at St. Michael’s. This includes hypertension and hypertensive heart disease, simple arrhythmias such as atrial fibrillation and other rhythm disorders, heart failure/cardiomyopathy and the general assessment of undifferentiated patients with cardiac symptoms (such as chest pain, shortness of breath and palpitations).

The Heart Failure Clinic specializes in taking care of patients with heart failure. Heart failure is a condition in which the heart is not able to pump enough blood to other parts of the body as well as it should.

People with heart failure may:

• Have shortness of breath
• Have swelling of the abdomen (stomach area) legs or ankles
• Have a new cough
• Feel tired
• Feel dizzy

Research has shown that lifestyle changes and medicines can help people with heart failure. By coming to the Heart Failure Clinic, you will be able to meet with heart failure specialists who can help you manage your condition.

The Pediatric Cardiology Clinic provides consultation, investigations, management, and follow up for a wide range of cardiac concerns (e.g. murmur, family history or other risk factors for pediatric heart disease, palpitations, syncope, arrhythmia, exertional chest pain, etc.). Investigations such as ECG, echocardiogram, holter monitoring may take place with or after initial assessment.

The Structural Heart Program at St. Michael’s specializes in providing care to patients presented with conditions that affect the structures of the heart, such as valves, walls, muscles, or blood vessels. 

Doing what is best for the patient is at the heart of St. Michael’s philosophy. At the Structural Heart Program, our experts work together to minimize risk, maximize safety while improving both quality and quantity of life by offering minimally-invasive heart procedures. This allows for faster recovery and shorter hospital stays.

We offer both innovative and routine non-invasive procedures which include, but are not limited to:

• Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement (TAVR/TAVI)
• Transcatheter Mitral Valve Replacement (TMVR)
• Transcatheter Tricuspid Valve Replacement (TTVR)
• Mitral and Tricuspid Clip
• Atrial Septal Defect (ASD) Closure
• Patent Foramen Ovale (PFO) Closure
• Left Atrial Appendage (LAA) Closure 
• Balloon Valvuloplasty
• Paravalvular Leak Repair

Services include assessment and treatment of cardiac conditions by a cardiologist.