On December 28, Children's Hospital 2 announced that it had successfully performed a kidney transplant for a child patient from a brain-dead donor. Up to now, the patient's condition has stabilized, he can eat, urinate well, and his kidney function has returned to normal. The surgery was performed on December 20.
Previously, on the evening of December 18, the hospital received information from the National Organ Transplant Coordination Center about an organ donation case from a brain-dead patient at Binh Duong General Hospital. The medical team contacted the appropriate recipient, completed tests, and procedures according to the correct process; at the same time, held an inter-hospital consultation with Cho Ray Hospital to prepare for the kidney retrieval and transplant.
The donor was a 47-year-old patient who was hospitalized in critical condition with a diagnosis of cerebral hemorrhage. The patient was diagnosed with brain death after treatment efforts by the medical team.
The kidney recipient was a 13-year-old boy diagnosed with end-stage renal failure on the basis of IgA nephropathy. He was undergoing regular dialysis at the hospital but did not respond well to the dialysis schedule.
Before surgery, the patient was prescribed a CT scan of the blood vessels and a Doppler ultrasound to assess the degree of fibrosis and obstruction of the pelvic blood vessels. The results showed that the external iliac artery was fibrotic with many calcifications, and the external iliac vein was completely blocked.
With the support of the Traffic Police, the kidneys were transported under strict storage conditions, ensuring that they were not affected during the journey from Binh Duong to Ho Chi Minh City.
The surgical team included doctors from Children's Hospital 2 and experts from Cho Ray Hospital. When entering the kidney transplant process, the doctors realized that the biggest challenge was the patient's severe fibrosis of the pelvic blood vessels.
This is a consequence of prolonged treatment for kidney failure, making kidney transplantation risky. Vascular fibrosis reduces blood elasticity and circulation, increasing the risk of blockage, bleeding or even necrosis of the transplanted kidney.
The donor renal vein was anastomosed to the inferior vena cava by end-to-end anastomosis. Because of sclerosis of the external iliac artery, the surgical team decided to use the common iliac artery for the anastomosis.
According to Dr. Phan Nguyen Ngoc Tu - General Planning Department of Children's Hospital 2, the hospital has successfully performed 33 kidney transplants for children, including 3 kidney transplants from brain-dead donors.
This is the first case where the surgical team encountered difficulties with pelvic vascular fibrosis in a child patient. This kidney transplant not only brought life to the child patient but also demonstrated the development of Vietnamese medicine in the field of organ transplantation, opening up new hope for many other children waiting for kidney transplants.
