Recently, with the completion and official commissioning of three specialized centers: pediatric cardiology, pediatric surgery, and neonatology, Children's Hospital 1 has become a reputable specialized center in these fields in the ASEAN region.
Specialized in intensive care and emergency resuscitation.
Dr. Bach Van Cam, a senior professional advisor and mentor to many generations of doctors who have been associated with Children's Hospital 1 from before 1975 to the present, said: Since the 2000s, in the context of increasingly complex disease patterns, in order to reduce the treatment pressure on hospitals in Ho Chi Minh City and provinces, Children's Hospital 1 has focused on developing specialized pediatrics based on the solid foundation of mass pediatrics already in place.
Currently, Children's Hospital 1 has specialized in many areas. In particular, in the field of intensive care, the hospital has implemented many complex and advanced techniques such as continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT), high-frequency oscillatory ventilation, controlled hypothermia, and the in-hospital red alert protocol initiated in 2008, which has saved the lives of many critically ill children whose survival rate was previously only 1-2%. Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) is a highly specialized technique that has saved many critically ill children who were previously almost certain to die. The application of many advanced techniques has helped reduce the child mortality rate at the hospital from 1.4% in 2005 to 0.36% in 2022.
Neonatal Center, Children's Hospital 1
It is possible to save the lives of babies born prematurely at 23 weeks.
According to Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Thanh Hung - Director of Children's Hospital 1, in addition to promoting advanced resuscitation techniques, in the coming time, the hospital will focus on developing four other specialized areas including pediatric surgery, interventional cardiology, infectious diseases, and neonatology.
Children's Hospital 1 is the first specialized neonatal center in the country, with a capacity of 150 beds and the implementation of many advanced techniques, achieving level 4 neonatal resuscitation standards (the highest level according to international standards). The center can save the lives of premature babies born at 23 weeks with a birth weight of 400 grams. This achievement is on par with neonatal centers in other countries in the region.
Retinopathy of prematurity, a condition that can cause blindness if not detected and treated promptly, has been included in the screening program at Children's Hospital 1 for the past 20 years. Currently, in addition to laser treatment, the hospital also implements intravitreal injection techniques, which further increase the success rate for very complex cases.
The Metabolic Pathology Unit, established in 2017, served as a foundation for the Neonatal Department 2 and the Genetic Metabolism Department, which were founded in 2021. This unit receives children with rare genetic metabolic diseases from the southern region, helping to save the lives of many critically ill children who previously received almost no proper diagnosis or treatment. This has also contributed to reducing the mortality rate of newborns with rare and critical diseases from nearly 10% in 2004 to less than 1% in 2022.
Using the EXIT method, Children's Hospital 1 has been able to perform emergency interventions and surgeries on newborns immediately after they are born.
"There are children with dangerous medical conditions from the time they are in the womb; if the umbilical cord is cut at birth, the child will die on the operating table. Children's Hospital 1 collaborates to insert endotracheal tubes or perform a fetal tracheostomy and ventilation during birth, intervening urgently as soon as the child's head emerges from the mother's abdomen. After the child is born, the umbilical cord is cut and they are quickly transferred back to Children's Hospital 1 for surgery, care, and continued intensive treatment," according to Dr. Dao Trung Hieu, former Deputy Director in charge of professional affairs in the surgical department - who directly performed EXIT surgeries from the very beginning in April 2019.
Diagnostic imaging for pediatric patients
Implementing heart transplant techniques.
Since 2004, Children's Hospital 1 has been performing closed-heart surgery, and on June 1, 2007, it began performing open-heart surgery. Two years later, the hospital further established its Interventional Cardiac Catheterization Unit. To date, the hospital has performed surgery on over 5,000 pediatric patients and provided interventional care to over 8,000 pediatric patients. As a result, the mortality rate among pediatric patients due to heart disease has dramatically decreased from 7.7% in 2004 to only 0.45% in 2022.
Associate Professor Dr. Vu Minh Phuc, former Deputy Head of the Faculty of Medicine - Ho Chi Minh City University of Medicine and Pharmacy, and Head of the Cardiology Department at Children's Hospital 1, stated:
Over the years, Children's Hospital 1 has perfected treatment techniques ranging from simple to advanced and complex, including cardiovascular interventions for extremely premature and low-birth-weight infants. The hospital aims to be able to handle all the most complex heart diseases, and will successfully implement pediatric heart transplantation in the near future.
Children's Hospital 1 also serves as a training center and technology transfer hub for pediatric cardiovascular intervention techniques, particularly interventional cardiac catheterization, for many hospitals both domestically and internationally. The hospital also collaborates internationally with many leading cardiovascular experts worldwide . In June 2023, the hospital's Cardiovascular Center will be recognized as one of the outstanding cardiovascular centers by Children's Heartlink (USA) in the treatment of congenital heart disease in children.
"Children's Hospital 1 has newly built facilities and many modern medical equipment such as a microsurgical endoscopic system, CT-Scanner, DSA system, central drug dispensing system, next-generation gene sequencing system, and a modern infection control center... The hospital has all the opportunities to develop into a specialized pediatric medical center in the ASEAN region in the near future. We are determined to do even more to save the lives of more children and create a friendly pediatric environment for them and their families," Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Thanh Hung shared.
Multiple development directions
According to Associate Professor Dr. Tang Chi Thuong, Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health, with the three current pediatric specialized hospitals, Children's Hospital 1 will soon become a center for pediatric cardiovascular care. Meanwhile, Children's Hospital 2 is being oriented to become a transplant center, and Ho Chi Minh City Children's Hospital will become a center for pediatric cancer treatment in the ASEAN region.
Dr. Truong Quang Dinh, Director of Ho Chi Minh City Children's Hospital, said that the hospital has modern facilities, meeting international standards with 1,000 beds. In the field of cancer, the hospital has established an Oncology Department, mastering surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, nuclear medicine, and palliative care for pediatric cancer patients. Currently, the hospital has nearly 410 pediatric cancer patients undergoing treatment. All pediatric cancer patients are cared for in a friendly pediatric environment, with a reading room, playroom, and organized classes for the children...
According to Dr. Pham Ngoc Thach, Deputy Director of Children's Hospital 2, the hospital has had a foundation in organ transplantation (liver, kidney) for many years. Currently, the hospital is building a 10-story high-tech area and will complete it soon. The hospital is sending personnel for training in organ transplantation and awaiting the Ministry of Health's assessment of the organ transplantation project. In addition, the hospital has strengths in anesthesia and resuscitation, emergency care, surgery, and other specialized fields such as endocrinology, neurology, and surgery. The hospital will be completely self-sufficient in organ procurement and transplantation, as well as stem cell transplantation for pediatric patients.
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