On the afternoon of 4/8, the man from Quang Tri province received flowers and well wishes from Professor Pham Nhu Hiep, Director of Hue Central Hospital, before being discharged and returning home with a healthy heart.
The patient was the oldest on the hospital's heart transplant waiting list. He had end-stage heart failure due to severe aortic valve regurgitation, with his heart's pumping function at only 17-20%. This condition put him at high risk of death and made him ineligible for conventional valve replacement surgery.
His chance at life came on 28/6 when the National Organ Transplant Coordination Center notified Hue Central Hospital of a brain-dead donor at Gia Dinh People's Hospital. That night, a surgical team from Hue Central Hospital flew to Ho Chi Minh City to retrieve the heart.
The next morning, the donor heart was safely transported back to Hue. The transplant surgery took over two hours, and the new heart began beating in the recipient's chest. This was the second time the patient had been prioritized for a transplant, having missed an opportunity in mid-June.
"The success of this transplant reaffirms Hue Central Hospital's position as a leading transplant center in Vietnam," said Dr. Hiep.
Since its first kidney transplants in 2001, the hospital has performed over 2,400 organ and tissue transplants. They have mastered complex procedures such as heart, liver, kidney, and hematopoietic stem cell transplants with a near 100% success rate.
 |
The heart transplant patient is discharged. Photo: Lan Huong |
Vo Thanh
