Doctors successfully harvest multiple organs from a brain-dead donor at the Việt Nam - Sweden Uông Bí Hospital in Quảng Ninh Province. — Photo sggp.org.vn

QUẢNG NINH — A successful case of multi-organ harvesting from a brain-dead donor was performed at the Việt Nam - Sweden Uông Bí Hospital in Quảng Ninh Province on April 2, the local Department of Health reported.

The donor’s heart, liver (split into right and left lobes), kidneys, and corneas were taken.

The surgery involved nearly 120 medical professionals, including 60 doctors, from organ transplant centres across Việt Nam. 

But it marks the first time organ procurement was done at a provincial hospital. The organs were distributed to several centres nationwide.

The donor was from Quảng Ninh Province, who suffered severe traumatic brain injuries in a traffic accident. 

Immediately after the diagnosis of brain death and three evaluations by the brain death diagnosis council, with the consent of the family, the hospital developed a plan for multi-organ retrieval.

Leading organ transplant centres such as the 108 Military Central Hospital and Việt Đức Hospital (in Hà Nội) and Huế Central Hospital dispatched doctors for the surgery.

After four hours of surgery, the doctors successfully retrieved the organs and sent them to the designated units for transplantation.

Together with the National Coordination Centre for Organ Transplants and other transplant centres nationwide, it then screened and listed patients requiring organ transplantations.

Dr Trần Anh Cường, Director of the Việt Nam - Sweden Uông Bí Hospital, attributed the success to careful preparations in terms of professional skills and infrastructure.

Assoc Prof Dr Đồng Văn Hệ, Director of the National Coordination Centre for Organ Transplants, appreciated the involvement of Quảng Ninh's leadership and healthcare sector in the surgery, saying it marks a significant milestone in organ donation and transplantation, and would help save many people’s lives.

By the afternoon of April 2, all organs removed from the donor had been transplanted.

Organ and tissue transplantation is the last resort in treating chronic and fatal conditions like kidney failure and liver, heart, bone marrow, and corneal damage, where the affected organs or tissues cannot recover their function. 

As of the beginning of this year, after 32 years of performing transplants and 14 years of harvesting organs from brain-dead donors, Việt Nam has performed over 8,000 transplant surgeries. — VNS