The First Lung Transplant in Southern Vietnam
On the afternoon of November 10, a representative from Cho Ray Hospital (HCMC) announced that in just three days, from November 7-9, the hospital’s medical staff worked continuously, even through the night, to timely receive two rounds of organ donations and transplants.
As a result, they directly brought new life to 7 patients, while also transferring several organs to other regions across the country to save 5 additional patients. This particular transplant event also marked a special milestone, as Cho Ray Hospital successfully performed the first lung transplant in the Southern region.
Specifically, on November 7, a 49-year-old male patient (residing in HCMC) was admitted to Cho Ray Hospital in critical condition due to severe traumatic brain injury from a domestic accident.
After the medical team’s unsuccessful efforts to save the patient, the patient’s family agreed to donate the patient’s organs to those in need of transplants.
In light of the donor’s and family’s noble gesture, alongside legal procedures, consultations, and assessments of the donated organs’ function, Cho Ray Hospital notified the National Organ Transplant Coordination Center to select suitable transplant recipients.
As the procedures were urgently initiated, the team of doctors and nurses at Cho Ray Hospital began receiving organs and performing transplants overnight.
In the early morning of November 8, the first transplants were successfully completed, opening new opportunities for young patients, including 1 heart transplant recipient and 2 kidney transplant recipients.
A 39-year-old male patient from HCMC was fortunate enough to become the first lung transplant recipient in the Southern region. At the same time, two corneas were also transported to Hue Central Hospital and successfully transplanted to patients there.
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Before they could rest, on the night of November 9, doctors at Cho Ray Hospital received news of another organ donation case at Ba Ria General Hospital. This was a 32-year-old man (residing in Long Hai commune, HCMC) who suffered a severe traumatic brain injury from a traffic accident.
After doctors assessed that there was no hope of saving the patient, the man’s family agreed to donate his heart, lungs, liver, and two kidneys to save other cases.
Despite their exhaustion, driven by the determination not to affect the donor family’s wishes and to timely receive these sacred gifts, the medical team, under the direction of the Cho Ray Hospital Board of Directors, quickly coordinated with partner units to urgently carry out strict organ donation and transplant procedures.
With the escort assistance of the traffic police, the donor’s heart was urgently transported from Ba Ria Hospital to Cho Ray Hospital within 64 minutes, just in time for a heart failure patient.
The efforts continued, as urgent organ transport vehicles rushed to the airport to send one part of the liver to Hue (the remaining part was transplanted to a patient in HCMC), and the lungs were transported to Hanoi for a patient at the National Lung Hospital, with the support of aviation authorities.
Meanwhile, the donor’s two kidneys were subsequently transplanted to two patients on the waiting list at Cho Ray Hospital.
Through the efforts of all parties, a total of 12 donated organs were successfully transplanted to patients across the three regions of North, Central, and South Vietnam.
Dr. Pham Thanh Viet, Second-degree specialist, Deputy Director in charge of operations at Cho Ray Hospital, stated that the success of these two consecutive organ donation and transplant rounds not only demonstrates professional expertise, dedicated spirit, and close coordination among medical facilities, but also serves as a vivid testament to the humanitarian value of organ donation.
Notably, the first lung transplant performed at Cho Ray Hospital marks an important turning point in the field of organ donation and transplantation in the Southern region, bringing more chances of survival to many patients who are battling death every day.
