On September 1, the Montreal Health Institute (MHI) opened its innovative Cardiovascular Genetics Centre. The new facility, which is the largest in Canada dedicated to cardiovascular disease, provides patients and families affected by genetic cardiovascular diseases with an integrated, multidisciplinary location for clinical assessment.
“This is the only specialized centre in Quebec with comprehensive expertise in patient monitoring thanks to a combination of clinical investigation and molecular testing for genetic cardiovascular diseases,” says Dr. Talajic, director of the Centre.
The centre features both a laboratory and a medical/educational clinic. The clinic serves to educate patients and their families about the individual and family risks associated with genetic diseases. Additionally, the laboratory will carry out molecular genetic testing, allowing doctors to “identify the variants involved in the pathogenesis of several genetic cardiovascular diseases,” says Dr. Julie Amyot, clinical biochemist and director of the molecular diagnostics lab.
The genetics clinic includes a multidisciplinary team responsible for assessing the range of genetic cardiovascular pathologies in patients with hereditary arrhythmias, aortopathies, and cardiomyopathies. The laboratory is equipped with state-of-the art technology, including a new generation MiSeq sequencer and a Sanger sequencer.
The new centre was made possible thanks to Hydro-Québec, who made a donation to the molecular diagnostics lab, and the Philippa and Marvin Carsley Cardiology Chair at Université de Montréal. The chairholder is Dr. Peter Guerra, Chief of the Department of Medicine and specialist in cardiac arrhythmia.
