Coleen Leszczynski's family dedicated the bell, to be rung every time a transplant patient leaves the hospital

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.

Scott Baldwin and colleagues have discovered early signaling events during heart development, findings that could guide cell replacement therapies for heart disease.

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.

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).

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.

The identification of a genetic culprit for hypoplastic left heart syndrome could lead to new treatments for the condition.