Department of Cardiac Surgery

July 24, 2019

Patient who was too sick to attend daughter’s graduation recovering after double lung transplant

Bridget Perez could barely walk a few steps. Now she’s walking laps at the Dayani Center track and marveling at how it feels to breathe again.

By Tavia Smith
May 9, 2019

Rehab technique may boost supply of donor lungs

A new regeneration technique could potentionally add to a limited supply of donor organs for an increasing population with end-stage lung disease.

By Matt Batcheldor
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
Tim Lowell, here with his wife, Ginger, was Tennessee’s first total artificial heart transplant patient. He recently received a permanent donor heart.
March 28, 2019

First artificial heart patient gets permanent replacement

Tim Lowell of Hernando, Mississippi, received the first total artificial heart in the state of Tennessee when the cardiac surgery team at Vanderbilt Health placed the device in his chest on Sept. 26, 2018. The mechanical heart kept him alive for nearly three months until a matching human donor heart became available and he was transplanted on Dec. 16, 2018, at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

By Matt Batcheldor
Past and present members of the Vanderbilt Transplant Center, guests and patients attended a celebration of VUMC’s 500th lung transplant at the Student Life Center Feb. 5. Shown here are (back row, from left) Matthew Bacchetta, MD, MBA, MA; Ivan Robbins, MD; Eric Grogan, MD, MPH; and Eric Lambright, MD; (front row, from left) James Loyd, MD; Pam Smith; Erin Gillaspie, MD, MPH; Andy Bolden and Ciara Shaver, MD, PhD. Bolden is the recipient of the 500th lung transplant at Vanderbilt, and Smith, who was transplanted at Vanderbilt in 1990, is the longest-surviving single-lung transplant patient in the United States. Vanderbilt performed its first combined heart/lung transplant in 1987 and its first single-lung transplant in 1990.
February 14, 2019

Celebrating a transplant milestone

Past and present members of the Vanderbilt Transplant Center, guests and patients attended a celebration of VUMC’s 500th lung transplant at the Student Life Center Feb. 5.

By VUMC News and Communications
Andy Bolden, second from right, is Vanderbilt Transplant Center’s 500th lung transplant patient. Here, he’s with, from left, Matthew Bacchetta, MD, Eric Lambright, MD, and Ivan Robbins, MD.
January 31, 2019

Transplant Center reaches lung transplant milestone

Alabama resident Andy Bolden spent much of the last five years on the couch, having difficulty doing something many people take for granted — breathing.

By Matt Batcheldor
October 25, 2018

Bacchetta to help expand pulmonary surgery program

Matthew Bacchetta, MD, MBA, MA, has joined the Department of Thoracic Surgery as an associate professor and the surgical director of a new respiratory institute at Vanderbilt University Medical Center that will be launched soon.
By Matt Batcheldor
September 27, 2018

Vanderbilt implants Tennessee’s first artificial heart

By Craig Boerner
March 8, 2018

First heart patients transplanted using novel transport device

The heart transplant team at Vanderbilt University Medical Center successfully transplanted two hearts using a novel preservation and transport technology allowing the heart to beat outside of the body for an extended amount of time.
By Jessica Pasley
February 15, 2018

Bypass surgery program lauded

Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) was recognized as the No. 1 hospital in Tennessee for Medical Excellence in Coronary Bypass Surgery by CareChex in its 2018 Quality Rating Analysis.
By Jessica Pasley
January 25, 2018

Heart transplant program reaches new record

Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) performed a record number of heart transplants in 2017, surpassing the 2016 milestone and securing its place as the second-busiest heart transplant program in the country.
By Jessica Pasley
November 2, 2017

Tenacity, teamwork, love, drive heart patient’s treatment journey

Sixty-six year-old Frank Donatelli knew the $39 he spent to join eHarmony was worth it.
By Jessica Pasley
August 31, 2017

Novel approach expanded transplant patient’s options

South Carolina resident Amy Binkley is used to making tough decisions for her daughter, Savannah Parks.
By Jessica Pasley
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