The first two patients to receive a kidney transplant from a brain-dead donor at Saint Paul Hospital were discharged from the hospital. — VNS Photo Thanh Hải

HÀ NỘI — Saint Paul General Hospital in Hà Nội on September 10 held a farewell ceremony for the first two patients who received kidney transplants from a brain-dead donor.

The two were discharged from the hospital on Wednesday, two weeks after receiving a donated kidney from a 32-year-old young man who was killed in a traffic accident.

Six people were saved, including two who received kidneys at Saint Paul and four other patients who received heart, kidney and corneal transplants from the donor.

The kidney transplant surgeries were performed by medical staff at Saint Paul General Hospital with the support of the Việt Đức Hospital and the National Coordination Centre for Human Organ Transplantation on August 24.

They were the 54th and 55th kidney transplant operations, but the first time the hospital had performed two kidney transplants from a brain-dead donor at the same time.

Doctors and nurses spend a minute's silence to honour and thank the organ donor at Saint Paul General Hospital on August 24. — Photo courtesy of the hospital

Dr Hà Anh Đức, Director of the Medical Services Administration (MSA), at the Ministry of Health, praised the success achieved by the doctors at the hospital and congratulated the two patients.

“Saint Paul is the first hospital of the Hà Nội's Department of Health, the fourth hospital in the capital city, and the seventh hospital in the country to perform organ transplants from brain-dead donors,” said Dr Đức.

“Many hospitals in Hà Nội currently have mastered transplant techniques. The question is how to get more transplants in the future. This is the responsibility of state management agencies.”

The MSA director added that the Ministry of Health is urgently completing the legal corridor to facilitate the transplantation of human tissues and organs.

The kidney transplants marked an important milestone for the development of Saint Paul General Hospital as well as the medical system in the fields of consultation, diagnosis of organ retrieval, transportation and transplantation of organs from brain-dead donors.

According to the hospital, the two patients were a female, N.L P, 44, from Đống Đa District, Hà Nội, who has right kidney failure and has been undergoing dialysis since 2020 and a male patient D.V.T, 55, living in Hai Bà Trưng District, of Hà Nội, who suffered from kidney failure since 2012.

Currently, the health of the two patients is progressing well with the kidneys functioning normally and urine output is good.

Saint Paul General Hospital director Nguyễn Đức Long said the special ceremony was a way to congratulate the organ transplant recipients and express gratitude to the organ donor.

“We performed a kidney transplant ten years ago but stopped for three years because there were no donor kidneys. Therefore, after this transplant, we look forward to having more patients revived from the noble gesture of organ donation," said Long. — VNS