Vietnam successfully conducts first simultaneous heart-liver transplant

A miracle has occurred at Viet Duc University Hospital in Hanoi as doctors successfully performed a simultaneous heart-liver transplant on a 41-year-old patient in critical condition with severe organ failure, the first time ever performed in Vietnam.

Dr. Duong Duc Hung, Director of Viet Duc University Hospital said that the decision to perform the surgery was made as the patient was on life support and his survival hung in the balance. The patient was given only a 20% chance of survival.

With the high level of risk, the doctors made the final call to go ahead, taking advantage of the remaining time to perform the simultaneous organ transplant.

Reviving patient with little survival chance

The patient, D.V.H., suffering from dilated cardiomyopathy, leading to severe heart, liver, and kidney failure, was hospitalised at Viet Duc University Hospital with acute heart failure.

On September 30, he was not responding to conventional treatment, with acute liver failure leading to kidney failure. Tests showed blood clots had reduced his lifespan to just days. The only way to save the patient's life was the high-risk multi-organ transplant.

At the same time, the hospital received a critical notification from Nghe An General Friendship Hospital in the central Nghe An province about a patient with severe traumatic head injury who had been declared brain-dead. The patient’s family expressed their wish to donate the organs.

A specialised team from Viet Duc University Hospital immediately travelled to Nghe An to assess the condition of the brain-dead patient and organs. By midday on October 1, the medical team had confirmed that the organs could be used in the transplants.

A rapid meeting of the hospital’s medical council was held to assess the viability of the transplant, given the extremely critical condition of the patient. The experts were concerned that the patient was too ill for such a complex procedure, thinking only one organ could be transplanted to maintain patient viability.

Despite the challenges, the medical team decided to proceed with the multi-organ transplant, offering the patient a slim but real hope for survival.

Doctors of Viet Duc University Hospital were divided into two teams. While one team stayed in Nghe An to carry out two kidney transplants from the same donor, another team from Viet Duc transported the retrieved heart and liver back to Hanoi, covering 300km in just 3.5 hours.

The intricate 8-hour, multi-organ surgery was completed successfully. The new heart began beating almost immediately, and within 36 hours, the patient’s liver and heart functions began to recover steadily. By October 9, the patient was able to speak, eat, and interact with others, with the heart and liver showing significant adaptation.

New milestone in Vietnam’s medical history

Associate Prof. Nguyen Tien Quyet, former Director of Viet Duc University Hospital said that this was the first simultaneous heart-liver transplant in Vietnam. The first of its kind was performed in 1984 in the US, which took the doctors 11-12 hours.

On October 9, Minister of Health Dao Hong Lan visited the hospital to encourage the patient and congratulate doctors there.

Since 1993, Vietnam has successfully performed over 8,000 organ transplants, the minister noted, underscoring that this is the first time Vietnamese doctors have successfully performed a simultaneous heart-liver transplant. The surgery demonstrates the determination of the doctors and nurses at Viet Duc University Hospital to master advanced techniques to breathe new life into organ transplant patients.

Praising the hospital’s performance, the minister stated that the success of the first simultaneous heart-liver transplant further affirms the expertise and technical skills of the doctors at the hospital in mastering difficult organ transplant techniques.

Dr. Duong Duc Hung, Director of Viet Duc University Hospital said that the success of the transplant demonstrates the effective coordination of the central hospital with satellite hospitals in transferring techniques and improving the capacity of lower-level hospitals in organ retrieval and transplant.

TB (according to VNA)