City doctors pull off landmark surgery

HA NOI (VNS)— Doctors at the HCM City-based Cho Ray Hospital have successfully performed their first adult liver transplant in collaboration with experts from South Korean ASAN hospital, in a gruelling surgical procedure which lasted for more than 13 hours.

The receipient, a 52-year-old woman from the Central Highlands province of Dak Nong, had suffered liver failure. The donor was her 22-year-old son.

Head of the hospital's Department of Liver, Gallbladder and Pancreas Surgery Nguyen Tan Cuong confirmed at a press briefing yesterday that the patient and donor were both in good condition.

"The mother can now walk to see her son - the donor - in the isolation room while the son can eat soup and milk," Cuong said, adding that all tests had shown good results.

The hospital said that the two would be discharged from the hospital after one month if their condition continued to improve without any complications or signs of elimination.

There have been 26 liver transplants performed in Viet Nam since the first successful operation in 2004, which took place in Military Hospital 108 in Ha Noi. Of which, 16 were between children and eight were between adults, although only three of them received livers from living donors. — VNS