On July 16, Ho Chi Minh City University Medical Center Hospital announced that the unit had successfully performed heart transplants for a 15-year-old child with end-stage heart failure. The heart transplant was performed on the evening of July 14.
The recipient of the heart is a 15-year-old male patient, suffering from dilated myocardial disease, heart failure with severely reduced hemodialysis rate. Since March 2026, the patient has been hospitalized 6 times due to irreversible heart failure episodes. Faced with the critical condition, Children's Hospital 1 coordinated to transfer the patient to Ho Chi Minh City University Medical Center for evaluation and registration on the emergency heart transplant waiting list.
The heart donor is a 49-year-old male patient in Hanoi, diagnosed with brain death after a traffic accident. The family has agreed to donate human tissues and organs.
Immediately after receiving information from the National Organ Transplant Coordination Center, the inter-hospital heart transplant process was urgently activated. At Xanh Pon General Hospital (Hanoi), the team closely coordinated in the multi-organ transplant process. From the gesture of the donor, the heart, liver, kidney and cornea were received and coordinated to be transplanted to patients, and at the same time, given the opportunity to restore vision for suitable cases.
Throughout the journey of transporting more than 1,700 km, the donated heart was strictly preserved according to professional procedures. In order to shorten the time of cold ischemia, limit the risk of affecting the quality of the transplanted organ and post-transplant heart function, the entire process was urgently deployed with the coordination of the Traffic Police force of Hanoi City Police, Ho Chi Minh City Police and Vietnam National Airlines. The donated heart was brought to Ho Chi Minh City University Medical Center Hospital within 4 hours.
Assessing the surgery, Prof. Dr. Nguyen Hoang Dinh - Deputy Director of Ho Chi Minh City University Medical Center Hospital, said that after only 60 minutes of performing the joints and restoring circulation, the heart beat again strongly in the recipient's chest, and postoperative hemodynamics were stable. This result shows the effectiveness of the close coordination process, proper preservation of donated hearts, and urgent transportation, helping the heart maintain good function after a long journey.
To date, the hospital has successfully performed 14 heart transplants and has not recorded any post-transplant deaths. The hospital respectfully expresses its deep gratitude to the organ donor and his family for their noble gesture of kindness. This humane decision has opened up a new future for many lives, spreading the noble value of donating human tissues and organs.
