heart transplant

Bill Jackson received a heart and double lung transplant, an unusual procedure performed only a handful of times each year at VUMC and one that can occur at only the most specialized transplant centers.

Under Bichell’s leadership, the pediatric heart transplant program has consistently had among the highest transplant volumes in the United States, ranking eighth in 2023 for pediatric heart transplant center volumes with 15 transplants performed.

Melissia Boynton got the call about 3 a.m. on Mother’s Day that her new heart was available. Immediately, her plans changed from a barbecue around the family pool to a middle-of-the-night drive to Nashville to get her new heart.

The 5,704 nautical-mile trip is the farthest VUMC has traveled for an organ. The remarkable journey illustrates how new technologies make it possible to preserve organs longer, allowing Vanderbilt to look farther for a match.

VUMC's adult and pediatric heart transplant programs recently collaborated to create a pediatric transplant transition day, a new event where pediatric transplant patients meet with their new adult transplant team providers to begin the transition to those providers.

In the first such procedure, Vanderbilt University Medical Center has transplanted a DCD (donation after cardiac death) heart using XVIVO Heart Assist Transport (XHAT), a novel cold organ perfusion device.

A Vanderbilt study found no difference in one-year survival and other outcomes among heart transplant patients who received their new organs from from donation after circulatory death and donation after brain death.