Department of Thoracic Surgery Archive

April 23, 2020

Medical, biological engineering institute honors Bacchetta

Matthew Bacchetta, MD, MBA, MA, associate professor of Thoracic Surgery and adjunct associate professor of Biomedical Engineering, has been inducted to the College of Fellows of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE).

By Matt Batcheldor
November 7, 2019

VUMC offering new minimally invasive emphysema therapy

VUIMC will be the first in the state to offer a minimally invasive, non-surgical alternative for patients with emphysema.

By Matt Batcheldor
VUMC’s ECMO program has expanded to areas outside of the Cardiovascular Intensive Care Unit.
September 12, 2019

ECMO program expanding to more intensive care units

VUMC is expanding its ECMO program from its longtime home in the Cardiovascular Intensive Care Unit (CVICU) to the Medical (MICU) and Trauma Intensive Care units.

By Matt Batcheldor
August 1, 2019

VUMC performs its first transplant using rehabilitated lungs

For the first time at Vanderbilt, doctors have performed a transplantation with donated lungs that were rehabilitated using a procedure called ex vivo lung perfusion.

By Matt Batcheldor
Elizabeth “Betsy” Barbour and her late husband, Richard, created a fund to help support Vanderbilt’s lung transplant patient assistance fund.
July 25, 2019

Couple’s transplant journey continues by helping others

Elizabeth “Betsy” Barbour and her late husband, Richard, created a fund to help support Vanderbilt’s lung transplant patient assistance fund.

By Nancy Humphrey
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
April 18, 2019

Team explores fungal infection quandary in lung cancer screenings

Serving a region that lies within the tobacco belt, clinicians at Vanderbilt Health face challenges distinguishing lung cancer from histoplasmosis, a fungal infection that creates cancer-mimicking lesions in the lungs.
By Tom Wilemon
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
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 14, 2018

New histoplasmosis risk map

The new mapping approach, called suitability score mapping, should improve public health assessments and interventions for geographic-specific infections.
By Bill Snyder
April 26, 2018

New robot expands options for thoracic surgery patients

The thoracic surgery team at Vanderbilt University Medical Center recently added a new tool to its collection of minimally invasive techniques to provide patients the most advanced robotic-assisted surgical procedures.
By Jessica Pasley