Kathy Whitney

John G. Byrne, M.D., William S. Stoney Jr. Professor of Cardiac Surgery and chair of the department, is stepping down from his position to become the chief of Cardiac Surgery and the vice president of Surgical Services at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. He becomes the Lawrence H. Cohn Professor of Surgery at Harvard Medical School, effective April 1, 2013. Read More

The skies cleared and the sun shone on the 2012 Nashville Heart Walk that took place on Vanderbilt’s campus on Saturday. Read More

When O.T. Hayes, 67, of Lebanon, Tenn., first starting seeing his cardiologist, David Hansen, M.D., for treatment of his coronary artery disease, it was hard to predict which of the various medications available would help control Haynes’ high cholesterol. Read More

The American Heart Association's 2012 Nashville Heart Walk is scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 6. Read More

Keeping the beat has new meaning for Vanderbilt Heart and Vascular Institute colleagues who have produced a music video to promote the American Heart Association’s Nashville Heart Walk, scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 6. The video was filmed at Vanderbilt University Hospital and Fool on the Hill Recording… Read More

Mouzon Siddiqi, who has accrued 11 months of sick leave during her 37 years as a Vanderbilt employee, has to use some of those days after suffering a cardiac arrest on Sept. 6, outside the University Club. Read More

At the inaugural Heart Walk Pep Rally last week, the Vanderbilt Heart Sounds introduced this year’s song, an original composition titled “Walk the Walk,” written by Cardiac Surgery administrative assistant Kurt Eger and cardiologist Mark Glazer, M.D. Read More

After Stacey Browning, R.N., a Cardiovascular Intensive Care Unit charge nurse, got a report on a heart attack patient who was being transported to her unit from an outside hospital, her immediate thought was, “They are sending us a patient we are not going to be able to recover.” Read More

The Department of Cardiac Surgery experienced its highest case volume to date with 1,245 adult cardiac surgeries at Vanderbilt University Hospital during the last fiscal year, according to department chair John Byrne, M.D., who spoke at Vanderbilt Heart’s quarterly town hall on Friday. Read More

Two weeks after giving birth to her second child on July 10, 31-year-old Samantha Neal began to experience chest pain. Initially diagnosed with a gall bladder issue in her local ER, her true diagnosis would prove much more serious and potentially life-threatening. Read More

Amber Hawkins, R.N., takes a shot during the event. (photo by Joe Howell) Doug Sawyer, M.D., Ph.D., chief of Cardiovascular Medicine, emerges from the dunk tank that was set up on the Medical Center plaza last week to raise money for… Read More

Vanderbilt Heart and Vascular Institute recently performed its 100th transcatheter aortic heart valve-replacement (TAVR) on 91-year-old Murline Westover from Lavinia, Tenn. Read More

Gottlieb C. (Bud) Friesinger II, M.D., professor of Medicine, emeritus, and the first director of the Division of Cardiology, died July 28. He was 83. Read More

The American Heart Association’s 2012 Nashville Heart Walk is scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 6, and Vanderbilt University is recruiting team captains with the hope of having 270 in place by Aug. 31. Last year, Vanderbilt raised more than $254,000 for the American Heart Association and was among the top three… Read More

A pulmonary embolism (PE) is a blood clot that travels to the lungs and is one of those sneaky, and dangerous, conditions that can appear in perfectly healthy people, perhaps after a long flight or, as in the case of veteran NBC News reporter David Bloom, after sitting in a… Read More

Vanderbilt’s idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis research group is embarking on a study to determine the prevalence of sleep apnea in people with other interstitial lung diseases. Read More

Vanderbilt Heart recently used a newly approved medical device to open narrowed coronary arteries, even in heart disease patients who also have diabetes. Read More

Vanderbilt researchers are seeking genetic clues to explain why risk factors for AF are more prevalent in African-Americans but their incidence of the disease is lower than European-Americans. Read More

Being involved in a healthy, loving relationship is good for the heart, says Vanderbilt Heart and Vascular Institute cardiologist Julie Damp. Giving your loved one a box of dark chocolates and a bottle of red wine won’t hurt either. Studies suggest they are good for the heart, too. Read More

A new study found that lower-calorie tube feedings do not reduce a patient’s ventilator use. Read More