Doctors at hospitals in HCM City and Hue this week conducted sixsuccessful organ transplant operations, saving the lives of four peopleand restoring the sight of two severely visually-impaired patients.
AssociateProf. Nguyen Truong Son, Director of Cho Ray Hospital in HCM City, saidthis was the hospital's first case in which organs from one brain-deadpatient had been used in four different transplantation operations,including kidney, liver, heart and lung and cornea.
For the livertransplant operation, doctors at Cho Ray Hospital were assisted by aRepublic of Korea’s surgery transplant team from the ASAN Medical Centrein Seoul.
The team on July 20 successfully conducted a livertransplant operation for a patient with liver cancer caused by hepatitisC infection.
Also on July 20, doctors at Cho Ray Hospitalconducted operations on two patients with chronic kidney failure,transplanting kidneys from the donor.
Elsewhere, doctors at HueCentral Hospital in Hue on July 20 flew to HCM City to receive thedonor's heart and lung and then flew back to Hue to perform thetransplant operation for a patient with heart and lung failure.
A team of doctors at Hue Central Hospital conducted the operation.
The doctors, led by Dr Bui Duc Phu, at the Hue hospital are known nationwide for their expertise in heart transplantation.
Thebrain-dead donor had an AB blood type, doctors said. Donors with ABblood type can only be matched with recipients with the same blood type.Son said the AB blood type was uncommon among Vietnamese.
Toexpedite the transport of the organs between HCM City and Hue, thehospitals had to ask for assistance from national aviation, customs andimport-export management agencies.
The heart must be transplanted within three hours, and the lung, within four hours, Son said.
Apartfrom the transplant operations at Cho Ray and Hue hospitals, corneatransplantation operations were conducted on July 22 at HCM City'sNguyen Trai Hospital for two poor patients with corneal scars.
Demandfor body organs for life-saving transplants in Vietnam is high butsupplies are low. According to Health Minister Nguyen Thi Kim Tien, thisis because hundreds of people with terminal ailments - or theirrelatives - refuse to agree to donate vital body parts, such as heart,kidneys or liver.
The Health Minister said at the launch of theVietnam Society for Encouraging Body Organ Donation and the VietnamOrgan Transplantation Society in June that there were about 6,000 peoplesuffering chronic kidney disease who needed a kidney transplant to stayalive; about 1,500 patients waiting for a liver transplant and about6,000 waiting to undergo a cornea transplant.
She said organtransplant societies could play a vital role in raising awareness of theneed for donations, calling for authorities at all levels, mediaagencies and civil society groups to participate.
There are 14health facilities capable of performing organ transplants nationwide.Many of Vietnam's organ transplant skills had been recognised as beingon a par with international practices.-VNA
AssociateProf. Nguyen Truong Son, Director of Cho Ray Hospital in HCM City, saidthis was the hospital's first case in which organs from one brain-deadpatient had been used in four different transplantation operations,including kidney, liver, heart and lung and cornea.
For the livertransplant operation, doctors at Cho Ray Hospital were assisted by aRepublic of Korea’s surgery transplant team from the ASAN Medical Centrein Seoul.
The team on July 20 successfully conducted a livertransplant operation for a patient with liver cancer caused by hepatitisC infection.
Also on July 20, doctors at Cho Ray Hospitalconducted operations on two patients with chronic kidney failure,transplanting kidneys from the donor.
Elsewhere, doctors at HueCentral Hospital in Hue on July 20 flew to HCM City to receive thedonor's heart and lung and then flew back to Hue to perform thetransplant operation for a patient with heart and lung failure.
A team of doctors at Hue Central Hospital conducted the operation.
The doctors, led by Dr Bui Duc Phu, at the Hue hospital are known nationwide for their expertise in heart transplantation.
Thebrain-dead donor had an AB blood type, doctors said. Donors with ABblood type can only be matched with recipients with the same blood type.Son said the AB blood type was uncommon among Vietnamese.
Toexpedite the transport of the organs between HCM City and Hue, thehospitals had to ask for assistance from national aviation, customs andimport-export management agencies.
The heart must be transplanted within three hours, and the lung, within four hours, Son said.
Apartfrom the transplant operations at Cho Ray and Hue hospitals, corneatransplantation operations were conducted on July 22 at HCM City'sNguyen Trai Hospital for two poor patients with corneal scars.
Demandfor body organs for life-saving transplants in Vietnam is high butsupplies are low. According to Health Minister Nguyen Thi Kim Tien, thisis because hundreds of people with terminal ailments - or theirrelatives - refuse to agree to donate vital body parts, such as heart,kidneys or liver.
The Health Minister said at the launch of theVietnam Society for Encouraging Body Organ Donation and the VietnamOrgan Transplantation Society in June that there were about 6,000 peoplesuffering chronic kidney disease who needed a kidney transplant to stayalive; about 1,500 patients waiting for a liver transplant and about6,000 waiting to undergo a cornea transplant.
She said organtransplant societies could play a vital role in raising awareness of theneed for donations, calling for authorities at all levels, mediaagencies and civil society groups to participate.
There are 14health facilities capable of performing organ transplants nationwide.Many of Vietnam's organ transplant skills had been recognised as beingon a par with international practices.-VNA
