congenital heart disease

November 10, 2022

Study defines role of steroids in congenital heart disease surgery

Steroids are commonly given to infants during open-heart surgery to reduce inflammation, but whether the drugs significantly improve patient outcomes has not been settled — until now.

By Bill Snyder
May 19, 2022

A clue to an adverse drug event in children

Considering metabolic (CYP2D6) enzyme activity score and patient age may aid in determining an individual’s risk for an adverse event with administration of the anti-arrhythmic drug propafenone.

By Joshua Baker
Joseph Breeyear, left, Todd Edwards, PhD, and colleagues are studying how high blood pressure genes can improve heart surgery survival in children.
March 24, 2022

High blood pressure genes improve heart surgery survival in children

Vanderbilt researchers have found that children with a genetic makeup that predicts high blood pressure as adults are more likely to survive congenital heart defect repair surgery.

By Leigh MacMillan
Liz Barnett is one of seven people who received a combined heart/liver transplant at VUMC last year.
February 24, 2022

Heart/liver transplant gives congenital heart disease patient new hope

Last year, Liz Barnett became one of seven people at Vanderbilt University Medical Center to receive a combined heart/liver transplant in 2021.

By Matt Batcheldor
February 7, 2022

Hospital staff conspires to help transplant patient plan a surprise proposal – to his wife

Love was in the air on the seventh floor of Medical Center East

By Matt Batcheldor
Mark Leszczynski, center, husband of Coleen Leszczynski, along with Coleen’s parents James and Alice Devlin, with the bell dedicated in Coleen’s memory and its accompanying plaque.
August 26, 2021

Family’s gift celebrates those who make transplants possible

All Coleen Leszczynski ever wanted was to be normal. Born with a congenital heart disease (CHD), she labored to breathe, having only three-quarters the oxygen capacity of a healthy person. Still, she fought to live, serving as a cardiac nurse in her native Philadelphia area for more than 16 years. She wanted to help people like her.

By Matt Batcheldor
August 20, 2021

There is a bell on the transplant unit. It rings in celebration — and memory

Coleen Leszczynski's family dedicated the bell, to be rung every time a transplant patient leaves the hospital
By Matt Batcheldor
February 26, 2021

Family’s gift supports addressing psychosocial needs of cardiac patients’ families

Ellen and Bo Boyer’s first child, a daughter they named Brett, was diagnosed with a congenital heart defect (CHD) while in utero. The couple was told that their beloved daughter would require open heart surgery to survive.
By Jessica Pasley
June 10, 2019

Cell-cell signals in developing heart

Scott Baldwin and colleagues have discovered early signaling events during heart development, findings that could guide cell replacement therapies for heart disease.
By Leigh MacMillan
May 2, 2019

More congenital heart patients becoming transplant candidates

Patients with a form of congenital heart disease — having only one ventricle (pumping chamber) — are now living longer lives due to the successful surgical and medical treatments they receive as children.
By Matt Batcheldor
August 23, 2018

Novel program gives congenital heart disease patients new options

Experts at the Vanderbilt Heart and Vascular Institute are forging new ground in the development of a first-of-its-kind program aimed at adults with congenital heart disease (ACHD).
By Jessica Pasley
August 16, 2018

Risk factors for faulty rhythms

Risk factors for arrhythmias after heart surgery in infants include medications, infant age and higher surgical complexity, but not two genetic variants examined by Vanderbilt researchers.
By Leigh MacMillan
July 3, 2017

NOTCH1 role in heart development

The identification of a genetic culprit for hypoplastic left heart syndrome could lead to new treatments for the condition.
By VUMC News and Communications
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