"Waking up after the lung transplant, I shouted: I'm alive"

In just one week, the Central Lung Hospital performed two consecutive lung transplants for two women with end-stage lung disease. For the first time, the hospital's resuscitation doctors participated in transporting lungs from the south to the north, performing a cross-Vietnam lung transplant.

"I'm alive"

Waking up after receiving a lung donated by a 27-year-old brain-dead man, patient Can Thi Phuong (54 years old, from Hanoi ) saw life as a dream, and could not stop shedding tears of happiness.

In 2018, Ms. Phuong discovered that she had air cysts in both lungs, 80% of the lung parenchyma was replaced by air cysts, the patient suffered from chronic respiratory failure, and her difficulty breathing gradually increased. Life became difficult in moving and walking a distance of nearly 200m. Since 2023, she has been dependent on oxygen for 6 hours a day at home, with a very high mortality rate. Before the lung transplant, the patient had end-stage lung disease that no longer responded to medical treatments.

Seven years after being diagnosed with the disease and five years waiting for a transplant, she received information many times that she had an opportunity for an organ transplant but it was not successful because the donor was not compatible. And this time, life smiled on her again, when the donor was a 27-year-old man in Ho Chi Minh City with suitable lung donation index.

Patient Can Thi Phuong recovers after transplant.

This is the first time that lungs from a brain-dead donor at People's Hospital 115, Ho Chi Minh City have been coordinated, transported by air, and strictly preserved "from south to north" to be transplanted on the night of April 11 at the Central Lung Hospital. The organ retrieval team included doctors from the Central Lung Hospital and Hospital E. This is also the first "cross-Vietnam" lung transplant in our country.

After 6 hours of travel, at exactly 22:37 on April 11, the lungs from the male donor were transplanted to 54-year-old patient Can Thi Phuong under the coordination of dozens of experts and surgeons. The surgery lasted 8 hours.

Patient Can Thi Phuong tearfully shared about her recovery journey.

After the lung transplant, the patient is receiving post-operative care at the Lung Transplant Center, and his health indicators are recovering well.

Also in April, patient Quach Thi Thuc (37 years old, from Thanh Hoa) was revived thanks to a lung donated from a 35-year-old man who was assessed as brain dead at Bach Mai Hospital.

After organ harvesting, the lung transplant surgery took place at the Central Lung Hospital and lasted 7 hours from 6pm on April 18 to 1am on April 19.

According to Dr. Nguyen Thi Bich Ngoc, Deputy Director of the Lung Transplant Center, Central Lung Hospital, this case of receiving a lung was very miraculous, recovering immediately after 8 hours of receiving the lung and did not need breathing assistance from machines.

"The patient recovered "spectacularly", was removed from the endotracheal tube and was breathing with two new lungs. After 1 week, the patient was able to breathe normally on his own. This is also a "special miracle" in lung transplant surgery, the success is equivalent to medical standards in developed countries around the world ," said Dr. Ngoc.

Before the lung transplant, the patient had leukomyomatosis (LAM). This disease creates air pockets in the lungs, spreads and causes loss of lung function. Over the past year, the patient has had increasing difficulty breathing, lost 5kg, and had to breathe oxygen 14-16 hours a day for the past 2 months, severely reducing her quality of life. The female patient is at risk of death at any time if she does not receive a lung transplant.

Doctor, Physician, Meritorious Physician Dinh Van Luong, Director of the Central Lung Hospital, said that both lung transplant patients were managed and monitored at the Central Lung Hospital before and have been waiting for lung transplants for several months now.

The hospital performed two lung transplants in a row this week.

As soon as information from the brain-dead organ donor was received, the Central Lung Hospital immediately organized a consultation, quickly coordinated, and mobilized the combined strength of leading experts from all fields to participate in lung transplants.

"With a ready source of patients waiting for transplants, the Central Lung Hospital is ready to perform lung transplants when there is a potential source of organs. Lung transplants have become a routine technique performed according to international standards at the hospital," said Dr. Luong.

5-year journey of creating miracles

In 2020, the Lung Transplant Center, Central Lung Hospital was established to "realize" the dream of lung transplant for patients who can only survive with "lung replacement".

The first lung transplant case at the hospital was patient Nguyen Xuan Toai (Thanh Hoa) who is still healthy after the transplant and especially he is taking care of his wife who is hospitalized at the Central Lung Hospital because of pneumonia. This is a miraculous lung transplant case with a survival time of up to 5 years after the transplant.

The other cases are all healthy and returning to normal life. Patient Trinh Thi Hien is happily living in her hometown in Nghe An. Nguyen Anh Thu is healthier and continues her second year of study at Thai Nguyen University of Information Technology and Communications.

Central Lung Hospital has successfully performed 6 lung transplants.

In April, the Central Lung Hospital coordinated with experts, units, and domestic and international hospitals (Hospital E, Center for Organ and Human Body Transplant Coordination, Pham Ngoc Thach Hospital, Bach Mai Hospital, People's Hospital 115...) to successfully perform two more consecutive lung transplants for two patients, Can Thi Phuong and Quach Thi Thuc.

To date, the hospital has successfully performed 6 lung transplants, contributing to the overall achievement of nearly 50% (6/14 cases) of lung transplants in Vietnam.

All lung transplants performed by the Central Lung Hospital are successful at the highest level according to the standards of the UCSF Lung Transplant Center - University of California, San Francisco, the most prestigious Medical Center in the United States.

Up to now, the Lung Transplant Center has mastered the technique of making lung transplant a routine practice at the hospital, contributing greatly to saving the lives of patients whose lungs still decompensate despite the most advanced medical and surgical treatments, and only lung transplant can save the patient.

The center has done a very good job of managing patients before transplant and caring for patients after surgery, which are important factors that determine the survival of lung transplant patients.

2020 : Established Lung Transplant Center, performed the first lung transplant in collaboration with 108 Military Central Hospital.

2021-2022 : Completing international standard lung transplant procedures, strengthening cooperation with UCSF (USA).

2024 : Perform 3 successful lung transplants, improve techniques and post-transplant care.

First 5 months of 2025: Successfully performed 2 lung transplants within 1 week according to the highest standards.

2025 : Celebrate 5 years of establishment, aim for 6-8 transplants/year and become the leading center in the region.

Future vision : Building a regional Lung Transplant Center, supporting the region, transferring lung transplant techniques

Dr. Dinh Van Luong believes that the Lung Transplant Center will continue to become the core unit for the hospital to build into a regional Lung Transplant Center to serve domestic patients (with the current actual need in Vietnam being about 900 patients needing lung transplants) and international patients.

However, lung transplantation still faces many challenges due to the lack of donated organs from brain-dead people; difficulties in caring for patients before transplantation; difficulties in resuscitation and post-transplant care; limitations in facilities, initial equipment and most importantly, funding and health insurance payments.

Doctors congratulate patients on their recovery after transplant.

"Although the cost of a lung transplant in Vietnam is low compared to the world, it is still a huge financial burden beyond the ability to pay for many families. Therefore, in order for more patients to have access to lung transplant techniques, especially those in difficult circumstances, we need a payment mechanism from health insurance and support from other socialized sources. Currently, most lung transplants are funded by hospitals," said Dr. Dinh Van Luong.

According to the Director of the Central Lung Hospital, to complete the construction of the Regional Lung Transplant Center under the direction of the Prime Minister, the hospital will quickly renovate its facilities, purchase modern equipment, complete technical procedures, train and transfer organ transplant technology, and pioneer in lung transplant techniques. In particular, the hospital will focus on training high-quality medical personnel, focusing on implementing lung transplants when they become routine.

Source: https://nhandan.vn/tinh-day-sau-ghep-phoi-toi-reo-len-minh-da-song-roi-post877874.html