Dr. Tarek El-Baz

Dr. Tarek El-Baz is a professor of cardiothoracic surgery and head of the cardiac surgery division at Ain Shams University Hospitals, one of Egypt's foremost teaching hospitals and the largest hospital affiliated with Ain Shams University — itself one of the oldest and most respected universities in the Arab world. Over a 26-year career, Dr. El-Baz has become one of Egypt's most distinguished cardiac surgeons, performing high volumes of complex heart and thoracic operations and serving patients from across the country and the broader Middle East and Africa.

His training trajectory — from Ain Shams University through an internationally competitive fellowship at the Cleveland Clinic in the United States — exemplifies the rigorous preparation that has made him a technically accomplished surgeon in all aspects of adult cardiac and thoracic surgery. The Cleveland Clinic fellowship, in particular, gave him exposure to the world's highest-volume cardiac surgery program and instilled the precision and systematic approach that characterizes his practice.

Back in Egypt, Dr. El-Baz has dedicated his career not only to operating but to building institutional capacity. Under his leadership, Ain Shams University Hospitals' cardiac surgery program has expanded its capabilities in valve repair, redo sternotomy for reoperative cardiac surgery, and heart transplantation — making it one of the few centers in Egypt and Africa offering a comprehensive adult cardiac surgical program. He holds membership in both the Egyptian Society of Cardiothoracic Surgery and the Society of Thoracic Surgeons (USA), the premier international professional organization for cardiothoracic surgeons.

Dr. El-Baz completed his MBBCh at Ain Shams University's Faculty of Medicine and remained at the same institution for his postgraduate specialization, earning his MS (Master of Surgery) and then his MD (Doctorate of Medicine) in Cardiothoracic Surgery. The MD degree required completion of a research thesis alongside advanced clinical training, covering the full scope of cardiac and thoracic surgical disease.

The capstone of his training was a highly competitive fellowship in cardiothoracic surgery at the Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio — one of the top-ranked cardiac surgery programs in the world. During this fellowship, Dr. El-Baz trained alongside leading surgeons in coronary revascularization, complex valve repair, aortic surgery, and heart transplantation. This experience at one of the world's busiest and most technically advanced cardiac centers gave him exposure to case volumes and complexity that are difficult to replicate elsewhere. He returned to Egypt with both the technical skills and the academic training that have defined his career at Ain Shams University.

Dr. El-Baz's surgical expertise spans the full range of adult cardiac and thoracic surgery. In coronary artery surgery, he performs both conventional on-pump coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) and off-pump CABG (beating-heart surgery), using arterial conduits including the internal mammary artery for optimal long-term graft patency. He has performed thousands of CABG procedures and manages complex cases including redo coronary surgery and combined CABG with valve procedures.

In valve surgery, he is particularly known for mitral valve repair rather than replacement, preserving the native valve wherever possible to maintain better cardiac function. His aortic surgery program includes aortic valve repair and replacement (including transcatheter-assisted approaches in collaboration with interventional cardiology) and open repair of ascending aortic aneurysms and aortic root pathology. In thoracic surgery, he performs lung resections for cancer, management of pleural disease, and mediastinal tumor surgery. His heart transplantation program at Ain Shams is one of a very limited number of such programs in the African continent.

Dr. El-Baz has published widely in Egyptian and international cardiothoracic surgical journals, with research focusing on outcomes of CABG in Egyptian patients, mitral valve repair techniques, and cardiac surgery in the context of rheumatic heart disease — a condition still prevalent in Egypt and many African countries that accounts for a substantial proportion of his valve surgery caseload. He has authored studies comparing surgical and interventional approaches to valvular disease and has contributed to outcome data for Egypt's heart transplantation registry. He serves on the editorial board of the Egyptian Heart Journal and has been an invited speaker at European and American cardiothoracic surgery congresses.

Dr. El-Baz consults in Arabic and English. Ain Shams University Hospitals' cardiac surgery program attracts patients from Sudan, Libya, Somalia, Yemen, Iraq, and other Arab and African countries where equivalent cardiac surgical capacity is limited or waiting times are prohibitive. Egypt has emerged as an important regional destination for complex cardiac surgery, offering sophisticated tertiary care at costs substantially below those of Western Europe or the Gulf.

For international patients seeking cardiac surgical evaluation in Cairo, Dr. El-Baz's team can review echocardiogram reports, coronary angiography results, and prior medical records via video consultation before the patient travels. The team coordinates with referring cardiologists and can arrange structured inpatient pathways for surgical assessment, operation, and postoperative care at Ain Shams University Hospitals.

Dr. El-Baz has received the Egyptian Society of Cardiothoracic Surgery's Award for Outstanding Contribution to Cardiac Surgery, recognizing his lifetime of surgical achievement and institutional leadership. Ain Shams University has honored him with the University Prize for Excellence in Clinical Medicine for his sustained contributions to surgical care and academic medicine. The Society of Thoracic Surgeons (USA), of which he is a member, recognized his data contribution to international cardiac surgery outcome benchmarking. He has received a commendation from the Egyptian Ministry of Health for leading the expansion of heart transplantation capacity in Egypt.