Doctors at the University Medical Centre HCM City perform a heart transplant from a brain-dead donor on a 11-year-old child. — Photo courtesy of the hospital

HCM CITY — Doctors at the University Medical Centre HCM City have successfully performed a heart transplant from a brain-dead donor, saving the life of a 11-year-old child suffering from end-stage heart failure.

The surgery was carried out in the early morning of February 23 (the seventh day of the Lunar New Year), marking the hospital’s ninth heart transplant from a brain-dead donor.

At 4pm on February 22, the hospital received information from the National Organ Transplant Coordination Centre about a suitable donated heart at Bạch Mai Hospital in Hà Nội.

The hospital immediately activated the emergency heart transplant procedure. In just over an hour, a team of cardiovascular surgeons, anesthesiologists, nurses, and technicians departed for Hà Nội.

Many medical staff returned to the hospital after the Tết (Lunar New Year) holiday upon receiving the deployment order, ready for the heart transplant surgery.

The donated heart was transported to HCM City at 3:45am on February 23 and the heart transplant surgery was performed immediately afterward.

At 4:45am, the heart began beating again in the recipient’s chest. The initial post-operative progress was favourable and the child continued to be closely monitored in the intensive care unit.

Prof Dr Nguyễn Hoàng Định, deputy director of the hospital, said the hospital has performed two consecutive heart transplants in the past week.

To date, the hospital has performed 214 organ transplants, including 97 kidney transplants, 108 liver transplants, and nine heart transplants. — VNS