Vanderbilt Heart And Vascular Institute

After serving in an interim capacity, Walter Clair, M.D., MPH, associate professor of Medicine and medical director of Cardiac Electrophysiology, has been named executive medical director of the Vanderbilt Heart and Vascular Institute (VHVI). Read More

Ashish Shah, M.D., has joined Vanderbilt Heart and Vascular Institute (VHVI) as director of Heart Transplant and Mechanical Circulatory Support. Read More

For patients with heart failure, changes in pulmonary artery (PA) pressures are an early indication that their condition is worsening, even before they notice symptoms such as shortness of breath or weight gain. Read More

The American College of Cardiology has recognized Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) for its commitment to and success in implementing a higher standard of care for heart attack patients. Read More

Vanderbilt Heart and Vascular Institute now offers patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) an alternative treatment to reduce their risk of stroke, potentially avoiding the long-term use of blood thinners such as warfarin. Read More

Two vastly different causes of heart failure, both of which can devastate a patient’s life, are being studied at Vanderbilt University Medical Center thanks, in part, to the generosity of a grateful patient whose own damaged heart was repaired at Vanderbilt more than five years ago. Read More

Despite prior epidemiologic and experimental data to the contrary, new research shows that vitamin D supplementation does not reduce blood pressure in individuals with prehypertension or stage I hypertension and vitamin D deficiency. Read More

Vanderbilt is embarking on an observational study to define and understand how a promising treatment for multiple myeloma affects the heart. Read More

The Vanderbilt Cardio-Oncology program has fostered a collaborative relationship combining the expertise of cardiologists and oncologists to understand effects of cancer therapy on the heart. Read More

Carrie Romero of Columbia, Tennessee, is running for her life. In 1997, when she was 28, Romero was diagnosed with dilated cardiomyopathy — a heart muscle disease that puts her at risk for sudden cardiac arrest (SCA). Read More

Vanderbilt Heart and Vascular Institute (VHVI) reached a significant milestone recently with the 100th implantation of the miniaturized HeartWare HVAD Pump, a left ventricular assist device (LVAD) that supports the heart. Read More

Vanderbilt Heart and Vascular Institute (VHVI) recently hosted a cardiovascular health screening for participants in a nonprofit organization called the Enplay Foundation, for middle and high school athletes and their adult family members. Read More

Keith Churchwell, M.D., executive director and chief medical officer for the Vanderbilt Heart and Vascular Institute (VHVI), is departing Vanderbilt and will join Yale-New Haven Health System as vice president and executive director of Cardiovascular Services on Dec. 1. Read More

Vanderbilt Heart and Vascular Institute is participating in a global clinical trial to test the safety and efficacy of the world’s smallest pacemaker. Read More

Vanderbilt employee Drew Casey, 27, was at home when he began to experience shortness of breath. Thinking it might be a panic attack, his wife, Katie, called 911, and an ambulance took Casey to the Emergency Department, where he progressed very suddenly to circulatory failure and shock. Read More

Keith Churchwell, M.D., executive director and chief medical officer of the Vanderbilt Heart and Vascular Institute, spoke at last week’s Town Hall, a quarterly gathering of Vanderbilt Heart faculty and staff. Churchwell announced that Vanderbilt Heart – Shelbyville has moved into new office space and that a… Read More

Thanks to advances in technology, heart patients with ventricular assist devices (VADs) are able to travel with greater frequency. Read More

Sometimes smaller is better. This is especially true of left ventricular assist devices, the mechanically operated heart pumps that are implanted in heart failure patients to bridge them to transplantation. Read More

Vanderbilt is the first hospital in Tennessee to use a new subcutaneous implantable defibrillator (S-ICD) to treat patients at risk for sudden cardiac arrest. Read More

With Valentine’s Day just one day away, Vanderbilt Heart and Vascular Institute cardiologist Julie Damp, M.D., says being involved in a healthy, loving relationship is good for the heart. Read More