Vascular Surgery

The Division of Vascular Surgery at St. Michael’s Hospital is a nationally renowned hub for innovative cardiovascular basic science, translational and clinical research.

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The major areas of research focus of the clinician-scientists within our division include:

  • vascular biology research with an emphasis on pathophysiology of abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) and atherosclerosis
  • epidemiological and public health research focusing on peripheral arterial disease (PAD), carotid artery disease and diabetes
  • developing novel imaging techniques for endovascular surgery
  • initiatives to improve quality of care delivered to vascular patients
  • knowledge translation and knowledge synthesis
  • randomized controlled clinical trials focusing on patients with advanced PAD and critical limb ischemia

Core Researchers

Our Work

Carotid Artery Disease:

  • Clinician Update: Carotid Artery Revascularization: What’s the Best Strategy?
  • Impact of Diabetes on Carotid Artery Revascularization: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis (PROSPERO 2015:CRD42015015873)
  • Validation of Carotid Artery Revascularization Coding in Ontario Health Administrative Databases (Physician Services Incorporated (PSI) – funded)
  • Carotid Endarterectomy versus Stenting: A Time-Series Analysis using Ontario Healthcare Administrative Data from 2002 to 2014 (Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) – funded)
  • Outcomes after carotid endarterectomy versus stenting in Ontario from 2002 to 2014: A population-based study (Physician Services Incorporated (PSI) – funded)
  • Outcomes in diabetic patients after carotid artery revascularization: A population-based study (Physician Services Incorporated (PSI) – funded)

Peripheral Arterial Disease:

  • Sex differences in the outcomes of peripheral arterial disease: A population-based cohort study
  • Efficacy of a Risk Reduction Program to Improve Cardiovascular Outcomes in Patients with Peripheral Arterial Disease: A Propensity Score-Matched Study
  • An interview-based survey to assess knowledge of peripheral arterial disease among medical students
  • Public Knowledge about PAD: The Gap is Larger than we Thought
  • PAD Portal: An electronic portal to improve cardiovascular risk reduction therapy among the PAD population
  • A Randomized Trial of Systemic Inflammation Reduction in Critical Limb Ischemia

Vascular Biology:

  • Astrocytes and mesenchymal stromal cells inhibit 3D endothelial tube growth in the absence of angiogenic stimulation
  • Role of autophagy in the natural history and complications of aortic aneurysms
  • Role of DNA damage/repair and autophagy in the development of cardiovascular diseases
  • Autophagy and endothelial-to-mesenchymal transition, and its role in the organ fibrosis

Thoracic Outlet Syndrome:

  • Expert Review: Vascular Thoracic Outlet Syndrome
  • Thoracic outlet syndrome, supraclavicular decompression: a single center experience

Vascular Trauma:

  • Validity of vascular trauma codes at major trauma centres
  • Closing gaps in vascular trauma: a population-based analysis

Innovative Technology:

  • Angioscopic imaging as an adjuvant to fluoroscopy during endovascular surgery

Surgical Education:

  • Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis: Influence of Surgical Residents’ involvement in the Operation Room on Perioperative Patients Outcomes
  • Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis: Factors associated with attrition rates of surgical residency programs and characteristics of the residents leaving the program

Quality Control:

  • Vascular Quality Initiative registry to improve the quality, safety, effectiveness and cost of vascular health care
  • 30-day Readmission Following Vascular Surgery: A prospective Study
  • Ontario Renal Network (ORN): Centre of practice initiatives across 5 sites in Ontario

Featured Publications

  • Alhaizaey A, Hussain MA, Al-Omran M. Blunt traumatic subclavian vein pseudoaneurysm. J Vasc Surg Cases. 2015 (in press)
  • Alhaizaey A, Hussain MA, Aljabri B, Al-Omran M. Aneurysms of the foot arteries. Vascular. 2015 Jul 31. pii: 1708538115599093. [Epub ahead of print] PMID: 26232389
  • Hussain MA, Verma S, Gupta N, Al-Omran M. Carotid Artery Revascularization: What’s the Best Strategy? Circulation. 2015 Jun 23;131(25):2226-31. PMID: 26099955
  • Ramadan A, Wheatcroft MD, Quan A, Singh KK, Lovren F, Dhingra N, Teoh H, Al-Omran M, Leong-Poi H, Verma S. Effects of long-term chloroquine administration on the natural history of aortic aneurysms in mice. Can J Physiol Pharmacol. 2015 Aug;93(8):641-8. PMID:26099030
  • Musselman RP, Gomes T, Chan BP, Auer RC, Moloo H, Mamdani M, Al-Omran M, Al-Obeed O, Boushey RP. Laparoscopic Colorectal Surgery in the Emergency Setting: Trends in the Province of Ontario. Surg Laparosc Endosc Percutan Tech. 2015 Mar 19. [Epub ahead of print] PMID:25793352
  • Singh KK, Lovren F, Pan Y, Quan A, Ramadan A, Matkar PN, Ehsan M, Sandhu P, Mantella LE, Gupta N, Teoh H, Parotto M, Tabuchi A, Kuebler WM, Al-Omran M, Finkel T, Verma S. The essential autophagy gene ATG7 modulates organ fibrosis via regulation of endothelial-to-mesenchymal transition. J Biol Chem. 2015 Jan 30;290(5):2547-59. PMID:25527499

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