Prior to the event, the news from Viet Duc Hospital and the National Coordinating Center for Human Organ Transplantation in Hanoi said that there were organs donated by a brain dead patient in Viet Duc Hospital, Hanoi. At 10 am on June 13, the urgent news from the Center informed that the donated organ was found to be compatible with the patient with end-stage heart failure in the waiting list for heart transplant at Hue Central Hospital.
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Tran Binh Giang, Director of Viet Duc Hospital, after taking into consideration the factors of appropriate time for the organ procurement and available flights to Hue and Da Nang for the transplant, decided to perform surgical operation to get multiple organs at 4 pm on the same day. At Hue Central Hospital, the implantable cardioverter had been placed in the 15-year-old patient Pham Van C., with end-stage heart failure due to dilated cardiomyopathy, and the patient was ready for the transplant.
The team of doctors of Hue Central Hospital are doing the second trans Viet heart transplant
It was then the time he was in Hanoi for the regular meeting session of the National Assembly, but for the patient’s sake, Prof. Dr. Pham Nhu Hiep, Director and Chairperson of the Council for Organ Transplantation of Hue Central Hospital not only took part in the organ procurement but brought the heart to Hue himself together with cardiologists from Viet Duc Hospital, and directed the implementation of this second transplant at Hue Central Hospital. The team responsible for the surgery was led Dr. Tran Hoai An, Director of the Cardiovascular Center.
Patient C. was very young but had severe heart failure with the predicted survival time of less than 6 months. He was in urgent need of an early heart transplant. The heart transplant team of Hue Central Hospital had to be in the race against time for the transportation of the organ. Unlike in the previous time, the travel length this time was longer as they had to fly Da Nang for the reason that there was then no flight to Hue in time for the organ procurement. Then from Da Nang the heart was transported by car Hue. The length of the travel ought to guarantee the time limit allowed for organ anemia (time from the organ procurement at Viet Duc Hospital to Hue Central Hospital was just 3 hours and 30 minutes).
All calculations were to be accurate to deal with three conditions at the same time: longer transportation, shorter time to prepare for the heart transplant and especially to ensure the allowed time for heart anemia. The regular rate of the donated heart from Hanoi helped maintain the dynamics of blood flow in the patient's chest at 2:30 am on June 14. The surgery ended at 6 am.
At 9 am on the same day, patient C. regained consciousness and the body’s hemodynamics remained stable. The patient received an excellent standard of care and his condition was closely monitored at the Department of Cardiac Anesthesiology and Recovery of Hue Central Hospital. The transplanted hear functioned very well with an ejection fraction (EF) of 61%.
In the same morning, Prof. Dr. Pham Nhu Hiep paid a visit to the patient and congratulated him and his family before coming back to Hanoi in time for the regular session of the National Assembly.
The success of the surgery proves that the process of multi-center organ transplant model we have been performing is compatible with the existing reality. It also confirms the Vietnamese doctors’ high professional expertise in the field of heart surgery, heart transplant as well as in other types of organ transplant.
Story and photos: Minh Van