Cardiovascular medicine at the Québec Heart and Lung Institute

Celebrating 60 years of excellence in specialized clinical care and research   ![Graphic][1] Founded in 1918, what would eventually become the Quebec Heart and Lung Institute [in French, the Institut Universitaire de Cardiologie et de Pneumologie de Quebec—Universite Laval (IUCPQ-UL)] was initially built as a sanatorium to offer the most contemporary treatments at the time to patients with tuberculosis. In 1955, clinicians of the centre felt that there was a need to build a pavilion that would be entirely devoted to research. Two years later, a Department of Cardiology was created and the mission of the hospital evolved, allowing scientists to initiate an additional research program on the aetiology and treatment of cardiovascular disease. In 1979, a pavilion devoted to prevention was built, showing the importance given to this field by our institution. In the 80’s, themes of excellence in research began to emerge beyond the contribution of individual pioneers of the time. During that period, one of our prominent academic cardiologists, Dr. Gilles Dagenais, launched the Quebec Cardiovascular Study, a prospective observational study of middle-aged men which would then make, in the 90’s, several seminal contributions to cardiovascular epidemiology by reporting original findings in high-impact journals. As of today, these articles remain the most cited original articles ever published in cardiovascular medicine from our Institute. At the same time, the late Dr. Paul Cartier, one of our leading heart surgeons, had … [1]: /embed/inline-graphic-1.gif