Europeans come to Vietnam to treat prostate enlargement

Many patients from European countries have come to Tam Anh General Hospital Hanoi to treat prostate enlargement by embolization in the past two years.

Meritorious Doctor, Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Xuan Hien, Director of the Center for Diagnostic Imaging and Interventional Radiology, announced the above information on April 8, adding that he had treated more than 10 European patients in 2023, while before 2021 there were no foreign patients. Patients came from many countries with developed healthcare systems such as Switzerland, England, Germany, Australia, Canada...

Associate Professor Hien explained that treatment in Vietnam is cheap while the quality of expertise and medical care services are good. Some overseas Vietnamese also return home for treatment to have relatives to take care of them and not face language barriers. Many cases have been treated abroad with many methods such as taking medicine, surgery, but failed. In addition, foreign patients are supported by Vietnamese hospitals to process documents, payment procedures, and international insurance quickly and conveniently.

Associate Professor Hien was the first person to apply the embolization technique in disease treatment in Vietnam in 2014, and has transferred the technique to other countries. This is a minimally invasive intervention method to treat many oncological diseases, including prostate enlargement, and has been successfully applied to many cases.

The principle of embolization is to block the blood vessels that nourish the tumor, causing the tumor to shrink and reduce in size. The patient does not need anesthesia, does not lose blood, and is hospitalized for 1-2 days. Many patients choose embolization because it is as effective in reducing symptoms as surgery, preserves physiology, and improves quality of life, according to Associate Professor Hien.

Like Mr. Lukas Brandt, 63 years old, Swiss, has prostate enlargement, urinary retention, frequent urination, and erectile dysfunction. The local doctor advised him to have surgery to remove the tumor, but there are post-operative risks such as erectile dysfunction and premature ejaculation.

His family contacted a doctor in Vietnam and was advised to undergo minimally invasive embolization treatment. "The cost of treatment in Vietnam is 10% of that in Switzerland, with good doctors and modern equipment," he said.

Mr. Lukas came to Vietnam for treatment at Tam Anh General Hospital in Hanoi, where Associate Professor Hien performed the embolization method with the support of an angiography robot. The technique only required anesthesia of the thigh area, so the patient was awake and could talk to the doctor during the intervention. After 45 minutes, the procedure was successful. His health improved well, and he was discharged the next day. Now, after two weeks, the patient has significantly reduced nocturia and has easier urination.

In another case, Mr. Baltasar Meyer, a 70-year-old German national, had undergone prostate surgery, the disease recurred, painful urination, and poor physiology. He went to Tam Anh General Hospital in Hanoi, and the MRI results showed that the prostate was about 70g in size (in normal adults, it is 15-25g). After successful embolization and returning to Germany, Mr. Baltasar no longer had urinary retention, reduced the number of times he urinated at night, and his physiology improved.

Associate Professor Hien (inside) performs angioplasty for Mr. Baltasar Meyer. Photo: Tam Anh General Hospital — Associate Professor Hien (inside) performs angioplasty for Mr. Baltasar Meyer. Photo: *Tam Anh General Hospital*

According to Associate Professor Hien, the prostate vascular system of Europeans has some differences compared to Vietnamese people such as long iliac arteries, often accompanied by a lot of atherosclerosis... so accessing the prostate artery is a bit difficult. Doctors use robots to take pictures and enlarge blood vessels clearly, helping to insert catheters and embolize accurately. This is also a modern machine used in many countries for embolization.

Associate Professor Nguyen Xuan Hien and his colleagues have performed more than 2,000 prostate artery embolizations. "Vietnam is one of the Asian countries that has deployed this technique the most, second only to China," Associate Professor Hien said.

Some hospitals in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and the Philippines have sent doctors to Tam Anh General Hospital in Hanoi to study and discuss this technique.

Hoai Pham

*The patient's name has been changed

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