Doctor team of Vinmec Times City International General Hospital perform the liver transplant for a nearly one-year-old girl weighing 5.3 kg, from a living donor. — Photo courtesy of the hospital

HÀ NỘI — Vinmec Times City International General Hospital announced the successful liver transplant for an 11-month-old girl weighing 5.3 kg, from a living donor. This is the most successful liver transplant for a patient of light weight ever performed at the hospital.

The baby, named Thiên Di, was born in November 2024, weighing more than 3 kg. When she was just over a month old, her skin became increasingly yellow. Her family took her for a check-up in HCM City, where doctors diagnosed her with congenital biliary atresia, a rare condition that, without early surgical treatment, can lead to cirrhosis and end-stage liver failure.

At three months old, the baby underwent Kasai surgery, a procedure intended to restore bile flow and allow the liver to continue functioning. However, the hoped-for improvement did not occur. After the operation, her condition worsened as the liver rapidly fibrosed, her jaundice became more severe and her overall health deteriorated.

By October 2025, at 11 months old, Di weighed only 5.3 kg, roughly equivalent to a three-month-old infant. With her condition critical, her family brought her to Vinmec Times City, where doctors determined that a liver transplant was the only remaining option to save her life.

Associate Professor Dr Lê Văn Thành visits Thiên Di more than a month after her surgery. — Photo courtesy of the hospital

Following a multidisciplinary consultation, specialists concluded that the child had reached an advanced stage of cirrhosis, with impaired liver function, severe malnutrition and a high risk of complications during and after surgery. The medical team decided to proceed with a living-donor liver transplant using a portion of the child’s mother’s liver.

The operation lasted more than 12 hours. Surgeons harvested a healthy section of the mother’s liver laparoscopically and carefully adjusted it to fit the baby’s small abdominal cavity. After the procedure, the transplanted liver began to function, although doctors said the recovery process remains demanding.

In the hospital’s Intensive Care Unit, Thiên Di has been receiving individualised care, including respiratory and haemodynamic management, anti-rejection therapy, infection control and intensive nutritional support to improve her overall condition.

After more than a month, Thiên Di was out of danger, her lungs were functioning normally, and her transplanted liver was stable. — Photo courtesy of the hospital

Thanks to the coordinated application of measures such as CPAP ventilation, oxygen therapy, respiratory physiotherapy and close monitoring of transplanted liver function, the child gradually overcame the critical stage.

“This was the lightest-weight paediatric patient we’ve ever transplanted a liver. The transplant was not only a technical challenge in connecting blood vessels and bile ducts, but also a problem of controlling haemodynamics, coagulation and resuscitation throughout the surgery. Every step had to be calculated down to the millimetre,” said Associate Professor Dr Lê Văn Thành, Deputy Chief Executive Officer for Surgery Affairs, Vinmec Healthcare System.

After more than a month, Thiên Di was out of danger, her lungs were functioning normally and her transplanted liver was stable. Her skin gradually turned pink, her weight began to increase and her smile returned. In early December, she was transferred out of the Intensive Care Unit to continue treatment with paediatric specialists. — VNS