Dr. Arthur Vineberg, a third-generation Montrealer, was a cardiac surgeon, university lecturer and author, known for developing the “Vineberg Procedure,” a predecessor of modern coronary bypass surgery.
Vineberg received his MS and PhD in Physiology from McGill University. He studied in Paris and then New York City, where he did his internship at Bellevue Hospital. In 1933, he joined the staff of the Royal Victoria Hospital, where he worked as a heart surgeon for the next 55 years; he was also a lecturer in the Faculty of Medicine at McGill. During World War II, he served in the Canadian Army Medical Corps. He was named Head of the Department of Cardiac Surgery at the Royal Victoria Hospital in 1957.
At a time when surgeons were still largely cautious about performing heart surgery, the Vineberg Procedure involved direct implantation of the internal mammary artery into the left ventricle, providing an alternate flow of blood to offset dangerous blockages. Although the medical and surgical establishments never broadly endorsed the artery transplant operation, thousands of patients benefited from it and, years later, supporting evidence proved the procedure was successful in increasing perfusion in a diseased heart. Furthermore, the Vineberg Operation inspired many subsequent developments in the field of heart surgery, and adaptations of his method are still widely used today.
Vineberg published two books: How to Live with your Heart; the Family Guide to Heart Health (1975) and Myocardial Revascularization by Arterial/Ventricular Implants (1982). He was writing his third book, The Complete Guide to Heart Health, at the time of his death. In 1986, he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada.