Hani Najm, MD

Hani Najm, MD, is the Chair of Pediatric and Congenital Heart Surgery and Executive Co-Director of the Pediatric and Adult Congenital Heart Center at Cleveland Clinic. Dr. Najm is board-certified in surgery and cardiothoracic surgery.

Specialty Interests: Neonatal heart surgery, left ventricular outflow tract obstruction, arterial switch procedure, atrioventricular septal defect repair, adult congenital heart surgery, complex heart valve surgery, repeat valve and reconstructive heart surgery

Number of Procedures Performed and Success Rates: Dr. Najm has performed more than 5,000 open heart operations for adults and children, with a special interest in complex congenital and adult surgery that involves more than one valve, as well as repair of transposition of great arteries.

Dr. Najm enjoys complex cases and strives to lower mortality rates. He has achieved an overall mortality rate of less than 1% in recent years, including many difficult cases. He has used a unique repair technique for repair of a complete atrioventricular septal defect in more than 200 patients, and 15-year follow-up results are outstanding.

Cleveland Clinic is nationally and internationally renowned for the world’s best cardiovascular care. Success rates for specific procedures are available at: http://my.clevelandclinic.org/heart/about-heart-vascular-institute/treatment-outcomes.aspx

Education and Training: Dr. Najm earned his medical degree from King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. He completed a rotating internship in Pediatrics, Obstetrics and Gynecology and a general surgery residency at King Khalid University. He also served a General Surgery residency at Ottawa Civic Hospital, Canada, and a Cardiothoracic Surgery residency at The Toronto Hospital and Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids), Canada. He completed fellowships in Pediatric and Adult Cardiac Surgery at Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) and Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Toronto.

He was appointed to the Cleveland Clinic staff in 2016 after serving as a consulting staff member in 2014. He has served at King Abdulaziz Cardiac Center in Saudi Arabia, including appointments as Deputy Chairman since 2008, Head of Cardiac Surgery since 2001, and Consultant for Adult and Pediatric Cardiac Surgery since 1999.

Research, Publications and Speaking: Dr. Najm serves in leadership roles for many professional heart and surgery societies throughout Europe, Asia and the Middle East. He has a Master’s of Science in research Training and has been an educator and speaker at hundreds of professional meetings worldwide.

His dedication to research and the importance of multi-center patient databases is exemplified in his work to establish the Congenital Heart Surgeons’ Society database and a database for patients treated in the congenital center he established in Saudi Arabia. The center was included in the multi-center “TOF Life” study, for which Dr. Najm was the Site Leader and Principal Investigator.

About Dr. Najm: I believe my greatest strength as a heart surgeon is my ability to offer the whole spectrum of heart surgery from the first day of life all through adulthood, including procedures that range from simple to the most complex, all with the best outcomes.

Leisure activities: In his leisure time, Dr. Najm enjoys Taekwondo. He is a 5th Dan black belt, earning 3 gold medals as the Saudi Arabia Champion.

Education & Professional Highlights

Appointed
2014

Education & Fellowships

Fellowship - Hospital for Sick Children
Cardiothoracic Surgery
Toronto, ON Canada
1998

Residency - The Toronto Hospital
General Surgery
Toronto, Ontario,
1996

Medical Education - King Saud University Medical School

1985

Certifications

Cardiothoracic Surgery
General Surgery

Specialty Interests

Neonatal heart surgery, left ventricular outflow tract obstruction, arterial switch procedure, atrioventricular septal defect repair, adult congenital heart surgery, complex heart valve surgery, repeat valve and reconstructive heart surgery

Awards & Honors

2008 1st degree medal of King Abdulaziz Al Saud (the highest level of honor in Saudi Arabia)
1998 Best research in the Disenhouse Meeting, Hospital for Sick Children research day
1998 Best presentation in the Third Annual Saudi Medical Meeting
1997 Best presentation in the Second Annual Saudi Medical Meeting
1997 Best presentation in the Annual Sick Children Hospital research competition for the department of surgery
1995–1998 Elected Chief of the Saudi postgraduate trainees, University of Toronto.
1994 Senior Resident award for research
1993 Outstanding resident teacher, University of Ottawa
1992 Senior resident prize for research
1985 Graduated second in class, medical school, King Saud University

Research & Publications

See publications for Hani Najm, MD.

(Disclaimer: This search is powered by PubMed, a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine. PubMed is a third-party website with no affiliation with Cleveland Clinic.)

Industry Relationships

Cleveland Clinic physicians and scientists may collaborate with the pharmaceutical or medical device industries to help develop medical breakthroughs or provide medical expertise or education. Cleveland Clinic strives to make scientific advances that will benefit patient care and support outside relationships that promise public benefit. In order for the discoveries of Cleveland Clinic physicians' and scientists' laboratories and investigations to benefit the public, these discoveries must be commercialized in partnership with industry. As experts in their fields, Cleveland Clinic physicians and scientists are often sought after by industry to consult, provide expertise and education.

To assure professional and commercial integrity in such matters, Cleveland Clinic maintains a program that reviews these collaborations and, when appropriate, puts measures in place to minimize bias that may result from ties to industry. Cleveland Clinic publicly discloses the names of companies when (i) its physicians/scientists receive $5,000 or more per year (or, in rare cases, equity or stock options) for speaking and consulting, (ii) its physicians/scientists serve as a fiduciary, (iii) its physicians/scientists receive or have the right to receive royalties or (iv) its physicians/ scientists hold any equity interest for the physician's/scientist's role as inventor, discoverer, developer, founder or consultant.* In publicly disclosing this information, Cleveland Clinic tries to provide information as accurately as possible about its physicians' and scientists' connections with industry.

As of 7/2/2023, Dr. Najm has reported no financial relationship with industry that is applicable to this listing. In general, patients should feel free to contact their doctor about any of the relationships and how the relationships are overseen by Cleveland Clinic. To learn more about Cleveland Clinic's policies on collaborations with industry and innovation management, go to our Integrity in Innovation page.

Public Health Service-Reportable Financial Conflicts of Interest. Cleveland Clinic scientists and physicians engage in basic, translational and clinical research activities, working to solve health problems, enhance patient care and improve quality of life for patients. Interactions with industry are essential to bringing the researchers' discoveries to the public, but can present the potential for conflicts of interest related to their research activities. Click here to view a listing of instances where Cleveland Clinic has identified a Public Health Service (PHS)-Reportable Financial Conflict of Interest and has put measures in place to ensure that, to the extent possible, the design, conduct and reporting of the research is free from bias.

* Cleveland Clinic physicians and scientists subscribe to the guidance presented in the PhRMA Code on Interactions with Healthcare Professionals and the AdvaMed Code of Ethics on Interactions with Health Care Professionals. As such, gifts of substantial value are generally prohibited.

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About Hani Najm, MD