Heart & Vascular News

The St. Louis region has experienced a sharp uptick in flu cases in recent weeks, according to Washington University physicians at Barnes-Jewish Hospital who say they are dealing with a severe flu outbreak that includes deaths from the illness. The deaths primarily were of otherwise healthy young and middle-aged adults not vaccinated against influenza, according to the physicians.

A 33-year-old man from Leasburg, Mo., is the first patient to receive a revolutionary form of highly accurate radiation treatment from the world’s first proton system of its kind. The treatment was administered today at the Alvin J. Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

Heart specialists at the Washington University and Barnes-Jewish Heart & Vascular Center were the first in Missouri to implant a subcutaneous implantable cardioverter defibrillator (S-ICD) into a patient during a procedure that took place on Friday, Nov. 29. Unlike the traditional ICD used to help treat arrhythmias such as tachycardia, the S-ICD does not place wires inside the heart or blood vessels.

The Washington University and Barnes-Jewish lung transplant program recently reached another milestone when surgeons performed the 1,300th adult lung transplant. The lung transplant program is one of the largest in the world and renowned for its excellent patient outcomes, which equal or surpass national standards.

Goldfarb School of Nursing at Barnes-Jewish College was recently presented with the “Best School of Nursing for Men” award by the American Assembly for Men in Nursing.