Doctors at Cho Ray Hospital in HCM City on September 18announced that they have successfully performed an adult living donorliver transplantation (LDLT) with medical technology assistance from aRepublic of Korea (RoK) liver transplantation team at the ASANMedical Centre.

The patient, a 50-year-old man fromTan Phu district, who had cirrhosis of the liver and hepatitis B, washospitalised with the last stage of liver failure in late July.

On August 15, 30 surgeons and nurses, including 12 from the RoK,performed a 14-hour surgery, using a 750-gram liver section taken fromhis 18-year-old son, said Dr. Pham Huu Thien Chi, deputy head of thehospital's Hepato-Biliary-Pancreatic Surgery Department.

The patient was transferred to the intensive care unit for two weeks.He is now in stable condition and is expected to leave the hospital thisweek, Chi said.

His son, who left the hospital after a 12-day post-transplant care period, is also in good condition, he said.

Doctors will continue to monitor his health after he leaves thehospital to prevent common transplant-related health issues, he added.

It is the second LDLT performed at the hospital, said Dr. Tran Quyet Tien, deputy director of the hospital.

"This successful operation has laid a major cornerstone for the livertransplantation procedure in the southern region," he said.

"The hospital will work closely with ASAN Medical Centre to perform atleast 10 cases of liver transplantation, including deceased donor livertransplantation," Tien added.

Last year, the hospital performed the first adult LDLT in the southern region.

To date, fewer than 30 adult and pediatric LDLT operations have been performed in Vietnam, he said.