Vietnam successfully performed the first simultaneous heart-lung transplant on a patient

(Dan Tri) - Viet Duc Friendship Hospital has just successfully performed the first simultaneous heart-lung transplant in Vietnam for a 38-year-old female patient in end-stage heart-lung failure, near death.

On the morning of August 13, Dr. Duong Duc Hung, Director of Viet Duc Friendship Hospital, happily announced that after 21 days of heart-lung transplant, the female patient is now awake, eating, and walking lightly.

Weighing the brain when deciding to "commit" heart and lungs to a patient

For the past 3 months, Ms. TNQ (38 years old, Ninh Binh) has made the hospital her home. She has a history of atrial septal defect - severe pulmonary hypertension that was closed despite the atrial septal defect at Hanoi Heart Hospital in 2011.

Over the past 3 months, her illness has become more severe, with difficulty breathing and walking. When admitted to Viet Duc Friendship Hospital, the patient was diagnosed with Eisenmenger syndrome - irreversible right ventricular failure - severe tricuspid regurgitation/ history of atrial septal defect, with the possibility of death calculated in days.

Dr. Duong Duc Hung, Director of Viet Duc Hospital (Photo: Hong Hai).

"Without a source of organs for transplantation, the patient's life expectancy is measured in days. When a source of donated organs is available, our doctors are racking their brains and are worried that if we "put" both of these newly obtained precious organs into one patient and the transplant fails, then the chance of two other patients will be lost.

But without the transplant, the young mother with her 13-year-old son would not have a chance to live. After many consultations and brainstorming sessions, the doctors decided to perform a simultaneous heart-lung multi-organ transplant for the patient," Dr. Hung shared.

After 21 days of heart-lung transplant, doctors happily announced the success of the transplant.

"This success not only brought life to the young mother, but also marked a great step forward for Vietnamese medicine on the world organ transplant map," said Dr. Hung.

Sharing about the heart-lung transplant, Associate Professor, Dr. Pham Huu Lu, Deputy Head of the Department of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery, said: "The patient's condition was serious; the donor's lungs were "oversized" in size compared to the recipient's; the resuscitation and care process... the doctors had 21 days of nervousness, unable to eat or sleep well to achieve the results we have today."

"Up to now, only a few special doctors are allowed to approach patients - because we want to ensure the best sterility and best care. Patients' families can only see from the outside," Dr. Hung informed.

"Every mother is afraid that her child will die"

Present at Viet Duc Hospital this morning, Ms. Vu Thi Duc (65 years old, the patient's mother) expressed her gratitude to the family of the organ donor, and to the doctors who returned to her a healthy child - a child that when she was brought to the operating table, she tried to look at for a long time, because she was afraid that it would be the last time she would see her child.

Patient recovers after heart-lung transplant (Photo: TM).

"Before the heart-lung transplant, my child just lay on the hospital bed, had difficulty sitting up, and moved around in a wheelchair. When the doctor explained that it was the first time he had a multi-organ transplant, I was very worried, but it was the last chance. Every mother is afraid that her child will die - the whole family cried like rain when the child was taken to the operating table. Then the miracle happened, my 13-year-old grandchild did not lose his mother," Mrs. Duc emotionally shared.

Dr. Ha Anh Duc, Director of the Department of Medical Examination and Treatment Management ( Ministry of Health ), said that the heart-lung transplant procedure has not been approved yet, but when Viet Duc Friendship Hospital asked for the Ministry of Health's opinion on the transplant, it was "given the green light".

"Obviously, with the source of donated organs, the patient has a chance to live - there is no reason not to take the opportunity for the patient. The transplant was successful, as the Director of Viet Duc Friendship Hospital said, the successful transplant gave the mother back a daughter, gave the 13-year-old son back a mother, gave the younger sister back a sister.

"Self-taught" doctors at Viet Duc Hospital have successfully performed the first heart-lung transplant in Vietnam - something that is usually only performed at major organ transplant centers around the world," said Dr. Duc.

The patient was conscious after the transplant, health indicators gradually stabilized (Photo: TM).

The success of the simultaneous heart-lung transplant for a patient with multiple organ failure has opened an important milestone, affirming the great progress of Viet Duc Friendship Hospital in the field of multiple organ transplantation, at the same time placing a milestone for Vietnamese medicine on the world map and opening up many opportunities to save the lives of critically ill patients.

Heart-lung transplantation is an advanced medical technique in which a patient's heart and lungs are simultaneously replaced with a healthy heart and lungs from a suitable donor.

This is the last resort treatment for patients with both end-stage heart and lung disease, when all other treatments have failed.

Due to the need for rare organ sources and extremely complex techniques, only about 100 of these transplants are performed worldwide each year.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/suc-khoe/viet-nam-lan-dau-ghep-thanh-cong-tim-phoi-dong-thoi-cho-mot-benh-nhan-20250813115230495.htm