Inside the operating room to 'repair' a malformed heart

Each interventional cardiac catheterization at Children's Hospital 1 (HCMC) lasts about 1.5 hours. Wearing lead vests weighing about 8kg, the doctors' eyes are always highly focused throughout the long time to perform cardiac catheterization on the child patient.

Doctor Do Nguyen Tin (middle) and his colleagues are concentrating while watching the screen showing the path of the catheter to the location where a 7-month-old patient with a severe congenital heart defect needs to be catheterized - Photo: XUAN MAI

Present at the cardiac catheterization room No. 2 of the cardiovascular intervention unit of Children's Hospital 1 (HCMC) at around 12 noon on June 6, the atmosphere was very urgent, many medical instruments and equipment were prepared to continue the cardiac intervention for the second child patient of the day that the unit received.

The interventional cardiology team has three people, led by Dr. Do Nguyen Tin - head of the cardiovascular intervention unit at Children's Hospital 1 - as the "captain".

Each cardiac catheterization procedure lasts about an hour and a half while the doctor wears a lead apron weighing about 8kg, but the entire team's eyes are always highly focused when watching the screen showing the catheter reaching the necessary locations of the heart.

With skillful hands and high concentration, the team performed 5 cardiac interventions and successfully treated 2 children aged from over 7 months to nearly 2 years old on June 6.

Doctor Tin added that this interventional cardiology session at Children's Hospital 1 was also broadcast live to Japan in 3 cases, helping young doctors here update their knowledge and increase observation of interventional cardiology practice on real patients.

Doctor Do Nguyen Tin's eyes are focused on performing a cardiac catheterization on a child patient, while at the same time providing commentary for live broadcast to Japan.

The interventional cardiac catheterization team on June 6 had three people, led by Dr. Tin as the "captain". Each cardiac catheterization lasted about 1.5 hours and the person always had to wear a lead vest weighing about 8kg, but the whole team performed 5 cardiac catheterizations and 2 emergency cases on June 6.

On June 6, 3 interventional cardiology surgeries at Children's Hospital 1 were broadcast live to Japan.

Doctor Do Nguyen Tin checks the vital signs of a 7-month-old baby after interventional cardiology. This is case number 2 out of 5 cases requiring interventional cardiology that day.

Inside the door of Catheterization Room No. 2 of the Cardiovascular Intervention Unit of Children's Hospital 1 is the tireless efforts of the medical team to "repair" hearts with congenital defects.

In parallel with the daily interventional cardiac catheterization work for children, recently Dr. Tin and his colleagues from Children's Hospital 1 and Tu Du Hospital have successfully performed cardiac catheterization on 9 fetuses, including a Singaporean pregnant woman.

According to Minister of Health Dao Hong Lan, this is not only a technical and professional medical achievement but also a success that touches profound human values, when very fragile lives on the border of survival have been held by the hands, minds, passion and intelligence of doctors like gentle mothers.

This achievement not only brings hope to thousands of pregnant women and their families, but also opens up a new direction in diagnosing and treating complex diseases right from the fetal period - an important step forward for the Vietnamese medical industry to deeply integrate with world medicine.

SPRING PLUM

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/ben-trong-phong-phau-thuat-sua-chua-qua-tim-di-tat-20250606164153064.htm