Doctor Do Nguyen Tin and colleagues in an interventional cardiology surgery - Photo: XUAN MAI
Tuoi Tre had a conversation with Dr. Do Nguyen Tin - head of the cardiovascular intervention unit of Children's Hospital 1 (HCMC) - after he and doctors from Children's Hospital 1 and Tu Du Hospital successfully performed heart catheterization on nine fetuses from January 4, 2024 to present - with many remarkable things and thoughts behind the surgery.
Be humble, always try to learn
Dr. Do Nguyen Tin is a dedicated person, loves his patients and always strives to learn and develop new techniques, especially in the field of fetal cardiovascular intervention. Dr. Tin is also an internationally influential person, regularly teaching, transferring techniques and organizing scientific conferences that gather many leading scientists in congenital cardiology.
It is noteworthy that Dr. Tin always maintains a humble and simple attitude, does not care about fame, and is respected and loved by everyone for his tireless contributions to medicine in the country and the world .
Mr. Nguyen Thanh Hung (Director of Children's Hospital 1)
Know how to accept and overcome failure
* Fetal catheterization is a very new and complicated technique, and has only been successfully performed in a few countries in the world, but you and your colleagues have successfully intervened in nine fetuses. Which case was the most impressive and difficult for you?
- The success of the recent fetal heart catheterizations is the effort of the whole team, not just me alone.
The most impressive case was case number 1 because it was the first time we performed fetal catheterization. The most complicated, difficult and dangerous case was the case of a Singaporean woman with two interventions.
During the first fetal catheterization of a Singaporean pregnant woman, the team had to stop because after more than an hour they still could not reach the fetus' heart.
This was the moment we had to stop, "accept defeat" to preserve the life of the fetus. After seven days, we performed a second catheterization with the total time allowed for dilating the heart valve to be only 10-15 seconds. If it was prolonged, it would be dangerous for the fetus.
Doctor Do Nguyen Tin
* The team accepted "defeat" the first time when performing fetal catheterization on a Singaporean pregnant woman. Are you worried that the second time will have the same result?
- The first failure in fetal catheterization for a Singaporean pregnant woman was not a setback but rather the team's determination and knowing when to stop to have a chance to continue the second time.
With intuition, faith and many years of working experience, I decided to continue to intervene a second time, although some colleagues were hesitant and voted blank.
Medicine is healing
* The success of nine fetal interventions has received a lot of attention, especially the case of the Singaporean mother. Surely these successes are very meaningful?
- This ninth fetal heart catheterization has special significance, because the team overcame itself after the first failure.
To me, the success of recent fetal heart catheterizations is just a "bright spot", not a "flame".
To create a "fire" requires the joint efforts of many people. Personally, I do not feel too excited by everyone's praise, but rather worry more because failure is completely possible.
* How do you face success or failure?
- In the medical field, failure is inevitable. I feel very sad when I cannot save a patient, but I do not let this feeling last too long. It is important to accept failure, not to hide it or blame it on objective factors. Facing and overcoming failure helps you improve yourself.
Success should be viewed modestly and not exaggerated. What you have accomplished is not something great, but simply done according to your ability and passion. And when you do a job you love, commit yourself to it, and dedicate yourself to it, many patients benefit.
The concept of "saving" patients needs to be reconsidered, because medicine is about healing. Overemphasizing the role of saving patients can easily lead to a mentality of favoritism and bureaucracy.
Patients and their families may misunderstand the doctor's ability, which can easily lead to lawsuits when the results are not as expected. In reality, doctors only treat patients with their own abilities, whether or not "heaven saves" is another matter.
Upgrading the healthcare sector needs strong support from the Government
* You have intervened in more than 17,000 cases of congenital heart disease and in the past year, you have achieved your cherished dream of fetal heart catheterization with nine successful interventions. Will these numbers continue to increase?
- Definitely. Despite my busy schedule, I still arrange to provide free medical examinations and cardiac interventions for patients in the country and many countries around the world. In the future, if there are cases requiring fetal heart catheterization, we are still ready to do it with the same determination as in previous cases.
* In the letter of commendation, the Minister of Health hopes that the Vietnamese health sector will deeply integrate with world medicine after the fetal heart catheterizations. The health sector of Ho Chi Minh City also considers this an important milestone towards becoming a specialized medical center in Southeast Asia. As a leading doctor in the field of cardiac intervention, what more do you think needs to be done to achieve this?
- Elevating the healthcare sector to become an ASEAN healthcare hub cannot be done by one or two hospitals or individuals alone. The city’s leaders or higher levels should work with relevant departments (e.g. healthcare and tourism), not leave it to hospitals or individuals to contact.
In my opinion, to attract foreign patients, we need to invest in infrastructure and facilities in a practical way. Build an English website, allow hospitals to post signs and medical records in English.
In addition, specific KPI targets need to be assigned to foreign treatment center directors or hospital directors to attract patients. Finally, to achieve the goal of developing healthcare, especially medical tourism, strong support from the Government is needed, with a comprehensive and methodical investment strategy.
About Dr. Do Nguyen Tin
- Dr. Do Nguyen Tin was born in 1973.
- President of Ho Chi Minh City Association of Pediatric Cardiology and Congenital Heart Disease.
- Head of Cardiovascular Intervention Unit, Children's Hospital 1.
- Lecturer at University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Ho Chi Minh City.
Doctors received certificates of merit from the Minister of Health for their outstanding achievements in performing transfetal cardiac catheterization - Photo: XM
The Ministry of Health will approve fetal heart catheterization technology for Tu Du and Children's Hospital 1.
Deputy Minister of Health Tran Van Thuan requested the Director of the Department of Medical Examination and Treatment Management to guide the two Children's Hospitals 1 and Tu Du to complete the procedures to submit to the Ministry's leaders for approval and officially deploy the fetal heart catheterization technique.
This was affirmed by Deputy Minister of Health Tran Van Thuan at the ceremony to award certificates of merit from the Ministry of Health to Tu Du Hospital and Children's Hospital 1 for their outstanding achievements in performing transfetal cardiac catheterization interventions on the afternoon of June 9.
Mr. Nguyen Thanh Hung - Director of Children's Hospital 1 - said that the fetal heart catheterization case No. 9 for the Singaporean pregnant woman was a very difficult case because the gestational age was still small. Because she was a foreigner and was referred to Ho Chi Minh City by a leading hospital in Singapore, the doctors were quite concerned about legal responsibility if an undesirable result occurred.
Mr. Hung emphasized that case number 9 was also the only chance that the medical teams of the two hospitals tried to save the fetus with the trust of KK Women's and Children's Hospital.
Mr. Tran Ngoc Hai - director of Tu Du Hospital - said that this 9th fetal heart catheterization case has a special and lucky meaning - as it is a foreign case but the most difficult and was performed nine years after the hospital started implementing fetal intervention.
According to Mr. Hai, the success of the surgery was the result of close coordination between the medical team of Tu Du Hospital and Children's Hospital 1, along with timely approval from the Director of the Department of Medical Examination and Treatment Management and the Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health.
Source: https://tuoitre.vn/cac-ca-thong-tim-bao-thai-la-nhung-dom-sang-20250610074749098.htm
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