heart transplant Archives
Heart/liver transplant gives congenital heart disease patient new hope
Feb. 24, 2022—Last year, Liz Barnett became one of seven people at Vanderbilt University Medical Center to receive a combined heart/liver transplant in 2021.
Vanderbilt Transplant Center reached new record in 2021
Jan. 20, 2022—The Vanderbilt Transplant Center established a new record in calendar year 2021 for total solid organ transplants, performing 645 life-saving procedures among its adult and pediatric organ transplant programs.
Down syndrome patient celebrates anniversary of novel transplant
Dec. 15, 2021—Vanderbilt patient Joe Eitl was among the first patients in the country with Down syndrome to undergo a heart and liver transplant.
Family’s gift celebrates those who make transplants possible
Aug. 26, 2021—All Coleen Leszczynski ever wanted was to be normal. Born with a congenital heart disease (CHD), she labored to breathe, having only three-quarters the oxygen capacity of a healthy person. Still, she fought to live, serving as a cardiac nurse in her native Philadelphia area for more than 16 years. She wanted to help people like her.
VUMC now leads world in heart transplantation
Jan. 12, 2021—Vanderbilt University Medical Center performed more heart transplants in 2020 than any other center in the world — 124 adult hearts, 23 pediatric hearts and VUMC’s first heart-lung transplant since 2006.
COVID patient’s heart-lung transplant is world’s first
Oct. 8, 2020—Vanderbilt University Medical Center has performed the world’s first dual heart-lung transplant of a COVID-19 patient.
Four heart transplants performed in whirlwind 48 hours
Aug. 26, 2020—The Vanderbilt Transplant Center’s cardiac surgeons transplanted four hearts in one 48-hour stretch in August, thanks to VUMC’s perfusion and organ recovery teams traveling more than 4,000 miles across the country to obtain the donor organs.
Congenital heart patient receives unexpected transplant
Aug. 12, 2020—For years, doctors told Piper Davis it was impossible to have a heart transplant. She was born with just one ventricle, or pumping chamber, instead of two. A generation ago, such patients didn’t survive into adulthood.
Vanderbilt Transplant Center sets monthly record
Jun. 8, 2020—The Vanderbilt Transplant Center performed 73 transplants in May, setting a Medical Center record for the most transplants in a month. Sixteen of those were heart transplants — also a monthly record — cementing VUMC’s status as the busiest heart transplant center in the country.
VUMC uses novel transplant technique to revive donor hearts that had stopped beating
Feb. 28, 2020—In the first such procedures in Tennessee, Vanderbilt University Medical Center has successfully used technology to bring two donor hearts that stopped beating back to life before transplanting them into patients.
Pediatric heart transplant program hits new milestone
Feb. 12, 2020—Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt is one of the original pediatric heart transplant programs in the country, and after 30 years, the program continues to rank among the best.
Portable VAD gives patient a bridge to heart transplant
Jan. 23, 2020—For nearly a month, 15-year-old Trinity Scott sported a black canvas messenger bag filled with favorite books, lip gloss or school supplies. Her bag even had a name, “Alice.” But far from any ordinary bag, what was inside was literally keeping her alive.
