NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — Hundreds of lives were saved at the Vanderbilt Transplant Center last year.
By performing 174 successful adult and pediatric heart transplants, the hospital has broken a world record.
“It’s not just survival to hospital discharge, but it’s making sure they get back home and are able to return doing the things that they want to do and that give them joy in life,” Dr. Kelly Schlendorf, associate professor of medicine and section head of the heart failure and transplant unit, said.
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Wes Carter received his transplant in September 2024.
“Even just the most minute detail they paid attention to,” Carter said. “And just to think they did that same process and that same quality of care for all those different people is absolutely amazing.”
Days after being admitted and having two false hopes of a heart match, Scot Pollard of Indiana said he was the 16th recipient of a successful heart transplant at Vanderbilt Transplant Center.
According to Doctor Schlendorf, the average patient can wait days or months for a heart due to age, size, or a medical emergency.
“That was actually the first thing that Dr. Shaw said to me,” Pollard said. “He said, ‘You won’t wait any less anywhere else.'”
Despite the high demand for hearts, Vanderbilt Transplant Center successfully transplanted 36% more hearts in 2024 than in 2023. Ten of those transplants were performed on pediatric patients.
“I think that is where the area where Vanderbilt has been especially innovative and successful is finding hearts for these patients and getting them to transplant,” Schlendorf explained. “But also getting them to transplant quickly because relative to many centers, we have very short waitlist times.”
Vanderbilt Transplant Center saw more than 500 patients referred to them by over 15 states. Some of the recommended patients were considered too high-risk for transplants at other programs.
“It’s not just the number; it’s the lives that were saved and it’s the innovation that was required to achieve that number, and it’s the teamwork that was required to achieve that number,” Schlendorf added.
Brian Page of Alabama was the 81st transplant recipient after constant days going in and out of the hospital. Patients like Page and Wesley Carter of Pensacola told News 2 it’s been life-changing.
“When they took the tube out, I had oxygen in my brain for the first time in years,” Pollard said. “I couldn’t believe it.”
Going into 2025, Schlendorf said increasing the number of lives saved looks like exploring innovative organ preservation technology techniques and extended outreach to impacted communities.
