The first successful simultaneous heart-lung transplant in Vietnam was discharged from the hospital.

Patient Tran Nhu Quynh (female, 38 years old) was discharged from the hospital 45 days after the simultaneous heart-lung transplant at Viet Duc Friendship Hospital (Hanoi). This is also the first successful simultaneous heart-lung transplant in Vietnam.

Before the transplant, the patient had irreversible right ventricular failure, severe tricuspid regurgitation, and a risk of death in days; the patient also had multiple organ failure; if the heart-lung transplant had not been performed, this could have been his last hospital stay. The patient received a heart and two lungs from a 34-year-old brain-dead male patient.

According to the organ transplant experts of Viet Duc Friendship Hospital, the above transplant is very complicated, performed with the coordination of interdisciplinary departments: cardiothoracic internal medicine, anesthesia - resuscitation, surgery, rehabilitation, nutrition... with a surgery time of 7 hours. Experts use extracorporeal circulation to temporarily replace the heart and lungs for 7 hours; ensure the heart functions well but need to avoid infusing too much fluid causing pulmonary edema, use less anesthesia and put in the most advanced hemodynamic monitoring equipment. The transplanted lungs need to be cut off on both sides to fit the recipient's chest; connect the two main bronchi instead of the classic trachea to better perfuse the anastomosis...

Patient Tran Nhu Quynh takes a photo with doctors at Viet Duc Friendship Hospital - PHOTO: BVCC

After lung transplantation, patients need to take strong immunosuppressants but are very susceptible to infection because they are connected to the outside and the donor lung is infected with multi-drug resistant bacteria, so doctors strictly control the dose of immunosuppressants (because the drugs reduce resistance). After transplantation, patients are given increased intravenous and digestive nutrition, lung cleaning by tracheostomy, suction endoscopy and rehabilitation exercises...

This is an extremely rare case, requiring the application of the most advanced surgical and resuscitation techniques. The success of the transplant opens up new opportunities for life and treatment for patients with end-stage heart and lung disease.

According to Viet Duc Friendship Hospital, simultaneous heart-lung transplantation is the final treatment solution for patients with both end-stage heart and lung disease, when all other treatments are no longer effective. Heart-lung transplantation is an advanced medical technique in which the patient's heart and lungs are simultaneously replaced with a healthy heart and lungs from a suitable donor.

Worldwide , heart-lung transplantation is rarely performed due to the need for rare organs, the complexity of the surgical procedure, and the high risk of complications. Due to the need for rare organs and the extremely complex technique, only about 100 of these transplants are performed worldwide each year.

On this occasion, Viet Duc Friendship Hospital also announced that more than 100 heart transplants have been successfully performed at the hospital. Among them, the youngest heart transplant patient is 7 years old, the oldest patient is 70 years old. In addition, 2 patients who received lung transplants from 2019 to now have maintained stable health, becoming the longest-living lung transplant patients in our country.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/ca-ghep-dong-thoi-tim-phoi-thanh-cong-dau-tien-tai-vn-duoc-ra-vien-185250911184827566.htm