American University of Beirut

​​​Cardiac surgery and procedures can be complex, invasive, and be accompanied by a great deal of patient and family anxiety. Procedures for cardiac patients at the American University of Beirut Medical Center (AUBMC) are done in some of the most technically sophisticated operating suites in the Middle East area.

The Division of Cardiovascular Anesthesiology at AUBMC provides care to approximately 500 patients that undergo coronary revascularization including off-pump cardiac surgery, valvular surgery, mechanical assist device placement, and electrophysiological surgery annually. Around 200 thoracic and vascular cases including aortic aneurysm repair, aorto-femoral bypass,  and carotid endarterectomy are performed each year at AUBMC as well. The health system is also seeing a rapidly growing volume of minimally invasive cardiac surgery (MICS) including Trans-catheter Aortic Valve Replacement (TAVR) and mitraclip surgery providing residents with significant experience in anesthesia for MICS.

Each cardiac operating suite contains state of the art monitoring equipment and transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) machines with 3D capability to promote the highest quality of care throughout the surgical procedure. TEE at AUBMC is an important resource for cardiac anesthesiologists and cardiac surgeons. The use of intraoperative TEE has gained wide acceptance within our cardiac surgical community, and the cardiac surgeons have come to rely on TEE to test the adequacy of repair and prosthetic function in cardiac valve operations.

The cardiac anesthesia rotation is offered to residents at all levels of training (CA1, CA2, and CA3) with an emphasis on basic physiology, pharmacology and monitoring in the junior years and more advanced anesthesia management skills and autonomy in the senior years.

The Department of Cardiovascular Anesthesiology also offers a one year fellowship program in adult cardiovascular anesthesia. The adult cardiothoracic anesthesiology fellowship program provides a well-balanced year of educational, academic, and clinical experience that will help our fellows grow and mature into exceptional clinicians.



Cynthia Karam, MD