Thong Nhat Hospital performs first heart transplant

The medical team is performing a heart transplant.

The organ donor was a middle-aged woman who unfortunately passed away after a serious traffic accident. When her life could not be saved, her son made her wish to donate her body to medical science come true.

Thanks to her donated heart, two kidneys and two corneas, she brought life and light to five other critically ill patients.

Notably, the heart recipient was a 61-year-old male patient with end-stage heart failure who had been waiting in vain for months. Right before the transplant day, he suffered a severe ventricular fibrillation, and was predicted to live only about a week without a replacement heart.

Associate Professor, Dr. Do Kim Que, Deputy Director of Thong Nhat Hospital said: "Currently, we have not been officially licensed to perform heart transplants; however, the patient's condition is so critical that even a slight movement could lead to cardiac arrest, making transfer to another hospital completely impossible."

In that emergency situation, the Ministry of Health allowed Thong Nhat Hospital to perform a heart transplant under the guidance and professional support of experts from Cho Ray Hospital and Hue Central Hospital.

Associate Professor, Dr. Do Kim Que, Deputy Director of Thong Nhat Hospital provided information.

After more than 6 hours of surgery, the donor's heart beat again in the recipient's chest, 127 minutes after being removed from the body. The heart transplant patient is now awake, able to do light exercise, and in stable health.

Thanks to the direction of the Ministry of Health , the urgent, precise and humane coordination of hospitals and the National Organ Transplant Coordination Center, the organ donation and transplant was successfully performed, thereby saving the lives and improving the quality of life for five other patients.

The first heart transplant at Thong Nhat Hospital is an important milestone, affirming professional capacity, spirit of inter-hospital cooperation and noble humanitarian values, where life is continued by humanity.