East Melbourne Heart and Lung

05/07/2022

For people living with severe emphysema, endobronchial valve treatments are currently very effective at relieving shortness of breath by shrinking the over expanded part of the lung.

Unfortunately, many people are not eligible for valves as they have "collateral ventilation", which means air leaks back into the treated lobe from other lobes of the lung.

We are now hoping to address this unmet need through the COVE clinical trial. We are using keyhole surgery to cut off the collateral ventilation to see if implanting the endobronchial valves afterward has the desired effect.

Recruitment is now open

For more information, visit

Home Australian researchers are seeking people living with severe emphysema for their study of a new two-stage procedure If you’re an Australian aged 40+ and have been diagnosed with severe or very severe emphysema, speak to your GP or specialist about whether you qualify for the COVE Study. Regis...

05/12/2021

The column on the right shows why we need a lung cancer screening program in Australia.

New report released today from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare shows that lung cancer continues to be the leading cancer killer in Australia, with 8,693 expected to have passed away throughout 2021.

This alarming statistic highlights the need for more to be done to address this huge burden including greater prevention and early detection strategies, the critical need for investment in research, as well as the importance of specialist lung cancer nurses to support the many Australians and their families through their cancer journey.

With new lung cancer cases predicted to reach 16,414 in 2031 more needs to be done to improve the survival rates for people with lung cancer.

To learn more about how we aim to make lung cancer a fair fight visit https://lungfoundation.com.au/resources/making-lung-cancer-a-fair-fight-a-blueprint-for-reform/.

05/12/2021

Our clinical trial of treatment of a world first treatment for severe emphysema got a boost with a health communications team from Sydney flying down to interview Dr Naveed Alam (Prinicipal Investigator) and A/Prof Gavin Wright (Co-Investigator). The EMHL team carefully assess each patient and then decide if they are suitable for a two stage procedure to improve the breathing and quality of life for people living with severe emphysema.

10/05/2021

Congratulations to our former medical student (now Bendigo doctor) Daryn Goodwin on publishing his important research on DNA sequencing of second lung cancers in the same patient.

Marked variations in survival rates have brought into question whether standard clinicopathologic classification should be applied to patients present…

16/10/2020

FYI A/Prof Wright is raising money for cancer research at Peter MacCallum by riding hundreds of km’s on the Zwift indoor cycling platform.

He is participating in the Unite to Fight Cancer Challenge, but intends to smash the 200km cycling target despite the lockdown.

Please help him also smash the fundraising target!

I'm taking on a virtual challenge in October to raise money for vital cancer research at Peter Mac. Please sponsor me by clicking the link. Thanks for helping me make a difference for families facing cancer!

10/04/2020

To our patients and followers, please adhere to the rules explicitly. We are truly one of the lucky countries at the moment, with sufficient health resources and a head start on , thanks to the strong leadership of our various state and federal Chief Medical/Health Officers.

We need time to train our health teams to protect themselves and the public so we don't have a repeat of the European or US catastrophes here.

We are conducting almost all of our consultations via phone or video Telehealth to protect our patients and EMHL staff from inadvertently transmitting the disease. As cough and shortness of breath are common amongst our EMHL patients, and are common symptoms of COVID-19, we have to be especially careful.

If you do need important or urgent surgery especially cancer-related, rest assured you will still receive that for as long as we possibly can until the final peak of COVID-19 overwhelms us for a short time.

Despite all the upheaval, we wish you a Happy Easter Holiday and look forward to helping you in less conventional ways for the time being.

06/12/2019

International teaching is a passion of our East Melbourne Heart and Lung Surgeons. One of our thoracic surgeons, Mr Naveed Alam, is part of the international faculty teaching minimally invasive lung surgery in Asian countries. He is a senior member of the Asian Thoracoscopic Education Platform which this year was located in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

23/11/2019

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/st-vincent%27s-private-hospital-melbourne_today-st-vincents-private-melbourne-celebrated-activity-6603158466829922305-xaZZ

Happy 300th robot to St Vincent’s Private Hospital !

Happy 100th robot to East Melbourne Heart and Lung’s Professor Wright !

November 21, 2019: St Vincent's Private Hospital Melbourne posted images on LinkedIn