Vietnam masters the most difficult technique in the field of organ transplantation

On May 7, the Central Lung Hospital announced that within just one week of April, there had been 2 lung transplants successfully performed with the coordination of patients and lung organs from Ho Chi Minh City to the Central Lung Hospital.

These two special transplants have increased the total number of successful lung transplants of the Central Lung Hospital to 6 cases, according to the highest standards of the UCSF Lung Transplant Center - University of California - the most prestigious Medical Center in the United States.

The lung transplant for patient C.Th.Ph (54 years old, from Hanoi) was successfully performed. This is the first time that the lung organs of a brain-dead person at People's Hospital 115, Ho Chi Minh City have been coordinated, transported by air, and strictly preserved "from South to North" to be transplanted on the night of April 11 at the Central Lung Hospital.

The organ collection team including the Central Lung Hospital and E Hospital "Marched" to remove organs. This is also the first "Xuyen Viet" lung transplant in Vietnam.

After 6 hours of travel, at exactly 10:37 p.m. on April 11, the lung organ from the donor, a 38-year-old male patient, was transplanted to patient Can Thi Ph. under the coordination of dozens of experts and surgeons. The surgery lasted 8 hours.

Before receiving the lung transplant, patient Ph. had end-stage lung disease and could no longer respond to internal treatment methods.

In 2018, the patient was discovered to have acidosis in the two lungs, 80% of the patient's lung tissue was replaced by acidosis, the patient had chronic respiratory failure, increased difficulty breathing, had difficulty moving, and moved within a distance of 200m. From 2023, the patient began breathing oxygen 6 hours a day at home, the mortality rate was very high.

After the lung transplant, the patient is receiving post-operative care at the Lung Transplant Center, and his health indicators are recovering well.

The second lung transplant was successfully performed in April for patient Quach Thi Th. (37 years old, from Thanh Hoa).

The female patient received a lung transplant from a person believed to be a 35-year-old man who was assessed as brain-dead at Bach Mai Hospital. After the organ collection, the lung transplant surgery took place at the Central Lung Hospital, lasting 7 hours from 6:00 p.m. on April 18 to 1:00 a.m. on April 19.

8 hours after the lung transplant, the patient recovered "special", was taken out of the endotracheal tube and breathed with two new lung leaves, after 1 week the patient could breathe on his own but normally. This is also a "special miracle" in lung transplant surgery, a success equivalent to medical standards in developed countries around the world.

Before lung transplantation, female sick people suffer from plain muscle tumor (Lam). This pathology creates cocoon in the lungs, spreading and losing the function of the lungs. In the past year, patients have increased shortness of breath, shot 5 kg, and have to breathe oxygen 14-16 hours a day in the past 2 months, the quality of life is seriously reduced. The sick woman is at risk of death at any time without lung transplantation.

Both patients who received the above lung transplant were managed and monitored at the Central Lung Hospital before and have been waiting for a lung transplant for several months now. As soon as information from the brain-dead organ donor was received, the Central Lung Hospital immediately organized a consultation, quickly coordinated and mobilized the total strength of leading experts from all fields participating in lung transplants.

Lung transplant is the most difficult technique in the field of organ transplantation, requiring strict coordination of all parts. Every year, there are about 5,000 lung transplants in the world, mainly from brain-dead donors, of which about 2,500 cases are in the US. Vietnam currently has about 1,000 cases with lung transplant destinations but lacking donated organs.