Heart transplant surgery across Vietnam saves 9-year-old boy's life

Cross-Vietnam heart transplant

On December 2, the University of Medicine and Pharmacy Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City announced that the unit urgently coordinated with the 108 Military Central Hospital and the City Children's Hospital to activate the procedure for retrieving, transporting, and transplanting a heart across Vietnam for a 9-year-old boy with end-stage heart failure.

The Heart Transplant Council of the University of Medicine and Pharmacy Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City held an urgent meeting with the participation of leaders of specialized departments and representatives of the City Children's Hospital, to comprehensively assess the patient's condition and plan the surgery.

The heart was strictly preserved and transported more than 1,600 km to Ho Chi Minh City to be promptly brought to the operating room under optimal conditions. Photo: Provided by the hospital

In Hanoi , the 108 Military Central Hospital completed the removal of multiple organs from a brain-dead donor. The heart was then strictly preserved and transported more than 1,600 km to Ho Chi Minh City to be promptly brought to the operating room under optimal conditions. Before this journey of resuscitation, the team expressed their deep gratitude to the organ donor and his family.

The transplant was particularly difficult.

According to Prof. Dr. Nguyen Hoang Dinh - Deputy Director of Ho Chi Minh City University of Medicine and Pharmacy Hospital (the main surgeon who directly performed the transplant), this child patient is the youngest case the hospital has ever performed a heart transplant on.

The adult donor weighed 57 kg, while the baby weighed only 33 kg. This significant difference forced the team to calculate meticulously so that the adult's heart could fit into the baby's chest cavity.

In addition, the child had just experienced pneumonia, had a high fever and preoperative infection - factors that increased the risk of post-transplant complications. The child's pulmonary artery pressure was also high, increasing the risk of right ventricular failure after transplantation.

In particular, the time the heart is outside the body for up to 6 hours makes the ability to recover contractile function after transplantation even more challenging.

The team performed a heart transplant on the child patient. Photo: Provided by the hospital

The surgery began at 3:11 p.m. on November 29. At around 7 p.m., the donated heart began beating again in the boy’s chest. The team continued to complete the steps of hemostasis, drainage, and chest closure. At 10:27 p.m., the transplant was officially completed.

To date, this is the 5th heart transplant and also the youngest patient to receive a heart transplant at the University of Medicine and Pharmacy Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City.

After 48 hours of resuscitation, the boy showed many positive signs of recovery: alert, cooperative, started breathing exercises, stable hemodynamics, gradually reduced vasopressor needs; kidney function and other organs improved significantly, inflammation index decreased. These signs showed that the new heart was in good harmony with the body, opening up hope for the recovery path ahead.

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