Vinmec 'repairs' 3-year-old patient's heart using complete endoscopic surgery

On March 13, Vinmec Times City International General Hospital announced that doctors at the Hospital's Cardiovascular Center had successfully performed a total endoscopic surgery on a child patient HA (3 years old, weighing 18kg) with congenital heart disease. The child is one of the few cases of young patients with congenital heart disease in the world to have surgery using the total endoscopic surgery method.

This success has made Vinmec one of the few cardiovascular centers in the world that can perform this advanced technique in children, contributing to the advancement of Vietnamese medicine compared to the world.

3 year old baby has heart chamber as big as adult

One week after surgery, the patient recovered and will be discharged from the hospital on March 14. Holding his healthy daughter in his arms, patient HA's father said that in January 2024, HA was diagnosed with congenital heart disease combined with multiple lesions, including a large atrial septal defect and all the veins of the right lung not draining in the right place (flowing to the right heart instead of the left heart).

After complete endoscopic surgery, patient H.A, 3 years old, quickly recovered and was discharged from the hospital in stable health condition. — After complete endoscopic surgery, the 3-year-old patient HA quickly recovered and was discharged from the hospital in stable health condition.

"Doctors said these abnormalities cause dilation of the heart chambers and increased pulmonary artery pressure. If not operated on early, it will cause pulmonary fibrosis and right heart failure," said the patient's father, adding: The child's condition was first accurately diagnosed with ultrasound and cardiac CT scan results at Vinmec Nha Trang International General Hospital.

Dr. Dang Quang Huy, Deputy Director of the Cardiovascular Center, Vinmec Times City International General Hospital - who directly performed the surgery, said that the special thing is that baby HA is only 3 years old but the heart chamber is already as large as an adult's heart chamber. If not intervened early, the child's health and development will be seriously affected.

“HA’s case is quite complicated because the baby has pneumonia - a consequence of congenital heart disease. If left untreated, the baby will often have pneumonia and antibiotic treatment will become increasingly difficult and take a long time to cure.

Therefore, the doctors consulted and chose the method of complete endoscopic surgery for the child to bring the best treatment results instead of open surgery or minimally invasive heart surgery as most medical facilities are performing" - Dr. Dang Quang Huy said.

According to Dr. Dang Quang Huy, total endoscopic heart surgery is a heart surgery method performed through small holes punched in the chest wall. The size of these holes is only the tip of a ballpoint pen or the tip of a finger, instead of having to open the chest like other surgical methods.

With such a small incision, the child can recover very quickly, with little pain, little risk of bleeding, and avoid chest deformities due to sternum sawing or having to open the chest. More specifically, the surgical scar is very small, highly aesthetic, and very meaningful for young women and girls.

Vinmec's pioneering position in the field of cardiovascular surgery

Vinmec doctors examine pediatric patients after surgery.

Complete endoscopic surgery in children requires complex techniques and is always a challenge for surgeons around the world. The reason is that children's chests are very small, endoscopic operations will be very difficult, requiring surgeons to be proficient in endoscopic techniques.

In addition, the femoral vessels in children are very small, making it difficult to establish extracorporeal circulation to support heart surgery. This poses a risk of damaging the child's femoral vessels.

In the case of baby HA, the challenge for doctors was also placing an intravenous line for the patient. “This case is more difficult than other children I have operated on, because the pneumonia had not been completely treated, causing certain difficulties in terms of manipulation.

At the same time, the patient's injury caused the entire right pulmonary vein to drain abnormally, so venous blood had to be collected and transferred back to the correct physiological position," Dr. Huy recounted.

A team of multidisciplinary doctors performed complete endoscopic surgery for children with congenital heart disease.

All these difficulties require experience and high expertise in all aspects, from the support team such as anesthesia, resuscitation, rehabilitation and post-operative care combined with strict infection control procedures and the most advanced specialized equipment in surgery, ensuring the surgery is safe, minimizing risks and complications during and after surgery.

The surgery was successful. The patient's atrial septal defect was repaired and the ectopic pulmonary vein was transferred to the correct physiological heart chamber.

“Currently, the patient's lung pressure is normal and his heart is smaller. The patient can completely return to normal life without needing any further surgery,” said Dr. Dang Quang Huy.

Also in this surgery, Vinmec doctors applied the usual pain relief model for pediatric patients after surgery. Normally, a heart surgery patient will have the most pain in the first 3 days and will have to use morphine, which has many side effects such as urinary retention and gastrointestinal spasms.

However, according to Dr. Quach Minh Chinh - Vinmec International General Hospital: The post-operative pain relief method that Vinmec is implementing helps patients not need to use strong pain relievers, patients achieve good pain relief, and helps children recover sooner after surgery.

The success of the surgery has affirmed Vinmec's pioneering position in the field of cardiovascular surgery and endoscopic cardiac surgery in Vietnam, opening up new prospects in the treatment of young patients with congenital heart disease requiring early intervention.

Vinmec Times City International General Hospital is one of the few medical facilities in Vietnam today that can meet all the necessary requirements for such a challenging and difficult surgery.
In particular, the hospital has regular professional connections with Cleveland Clinic (USA) - the world's No. 1 hospital in cardiovascular surgery. At the same time, Vinmec Times City is also the only hospital in Asia to have a Center of Excellence (COE) in cardiovascular with 2 prestigious ACC certificates from the United States.
In addition to improving health, due to the shortened hospital stay, the total heart endoscopy method also helps save costs and time for patients, reducing the medical burden on society. In addition, patients undergoing heart surgery at Vinmec Times City enjoy full health insurance benefits.

Nhat Le

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