The surgical team performs the liver transplant on the 16-year-old patient. — VNA/VNS Photo

HCM CITY — A single act of organ donation has given new life to two critically ill patients after doctors in HCM City successfully carried out heart and liver transplants at the same time, highlighting both medical skill and the life-saving impact of donation.

The operations were performed at the University Medical Centre Hồ Chí Minh City after the hospital received notification from the National Organ Transplant Coordination Centre that organs from a brain-dead donor had become available.

Two patients with markedly different conditions were taken into surgery last Sunday evening.

The heart transplant recipient was a 61-year-old man who had lived with dilated cardiomyopathy for more than a decade. His condition had progressed to end-stage heart failure, complicated by repeated episodes of life-threatening arrhythmia.

Despite intensive treatment, including an implanted defibrillator and high-dose vasopressors to maintain blood pressure, doctors said transplantation was the only remaining option.

The liver transplant was performed on a 16-year-old patient suffering from advanced chronic liver disease that had deteriorated into end-stage cirrhosis and acute liver failure.

The teenager was experiencing severe complications, including coagulation disorders, jaundice, ascites and hepatic coma: a constellation of symptoms that doctors said posed an immediate risk to life without urgent transplantation.

The two complex procedures were carried out in parallel operating theatres, requiring close coordination from organ allocation through surgery and post-transplant intensive care, according to the hospital.

Nguyễn Hoàng Định, Deputy Director of the University Medical Centre and head of the heart transplant team, noted that the donated heart was implanted at 6.30pm.

By approximately 9.30pm, the heart began beating on its own, with stable rhythms and a marked early improvement in the patient’s haemodynamic indicators.

The liver transplant team employed an improved split-liver technique, allowing a single donated liver to be divided into two intact grafts.

By midnight, the transplanted liver showed good reperfusion and had begun producing bile, with early biochemical indicators suggesting a positive initial response, doctors said.

In addition to the two transplants conducted in HCM City, other tissues and organs from the same donor were allocated to hospitals across the country.

A left-lobe liver graft was transferred for transplantation involving the National Children’s Hospital in Hà Nội, while two corneas were sent to Huế Central Hospital. — VNS