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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.