Reporter Feb 17 2017

A target to heal tiny lungs

The protein beta-catenin may be a good target for therapies to treat lung disease that is a common complication of preterm birth.

young african american man in hospital

Risk of death in sickle cell disease

Two factors commonly used to evaluate patients with sickle cell disease are associated with each other and can predict increased mortality, Vanderbilt researchers have discovered.

Laughing gas for labor

Although nitrous oxide was less effective than epidural anesthesia for pain management during labor, mothers who used nitrous oxide were equally satisfied with their childbirth experience.

Improving therapies for GI tumors

A signaling protein overexpressed in upper gastrointestinal cancers is an attractive therapeutic target.

Geiger’s focus on the small details serves patients well

Neat stacks of paper are lined up on the desk of Timothy Geiger, M.D., with each stack representing a challenge. For example, one sheet has a flow chart sketched on it — Geiger’s musing on ways to more efficiently use Vanderbilt University Medical Center’s (VUMC) operating rooms, matching the best locations with case types and surgical teams.

New technique helps ease ear tumor surgery

Last fall, the Vanderbilt Bill Wilkerson Center became the second facility in the country and third in the world to use a fully endoscopic surgical technique to remove an acoustic neuroma, a rare benign tumor on the balance and hearing nerves.

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