HÀ NỘI — Doctors of Hà Nội-based Việt Nam-Germany Hospital successfully conducted a liver transplant on a patient in very critical condition, the most serious case in the hospital’s history.

This was announced by the hospital at a press conference on Monday.

D.T.P.M, a 15 year-old girl, hailing from Tĩnh Gia District of central Thanh Hóa Province, suffered from acute liver failure and hepatic encephalopathy (the occurrence of confusion, altered level of consciousness and coma as a result of liver failure).

Despite undergoing liver purification and blood plasma change, doctors said her life could be saved only if liver transplant surgery was conducted.

Professor Trần Bình Giang, Việt Nam-Germany Hospital director, called this an especially critical case. Conducting a liver transplant was a hard decision as success rate stood at a low 5-10 per cent.

Doctor Nguyễn Quang Nghĩa, director of the Human Organ Transplantation Centre under the Việt Nam-Germany Hospital, said that the girl was the most serious patient among all the 36 liver transplants conducted at Việt Nam-Germany Hospital, as all her health indicators were at the lowest level and the blood clotting disorder was very serious.

The girl’s father decided to donate half his liver for his daughter’s surgery.

The transplant, which saw the involvement of more than 100 doctors and nurses, was conducted on March 29 and lasted nine hours.

Four days following the transplant, both the patient and the donor were in stable condition. The girl’s liver functions were recovering well as expected.

She is expected to go home on Friday. — VNS