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 its 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.