Assoc Prof Dr Đào Trung Hiếu, deputy director of the Children’s Hospital No.1 in HCM City, talks to a 12-year-old girl with tumours in her lung who has recovered quickly after undergoing a live-saving surgery in mid-June. —Photo nld.com.vn

HCM CITY — Doctors from the Children’s Hospital No.1 and Phạm Ngọc Thạch Hospital in HCM City have successfully performed a live-saving surgery on a 12-year-old girl with tumours in the lung.

Assoc Prof Dr Đào Trung Hiếu, deputy director of the former, said the girl from Đồng Nai Province had been diagnosed with tumours in the left lung and had undergone a surgery to remove the entire left lung at the Children’s Hospital No.2 two years ago.

In March this year she suffered from cough and shortness of breath and visited the Children’s Hospital No.2 for checks and was diagnosed with cancer in her remaining lung and sent to the Oncology Hospital for treatment.

Doctors there consulted several experts and decided to transfer her to the Children’s Hospital No.1 on June 1 for further treatment.

CT scans showed that the cancer had spread to the main bronchus and right upper lobe, affecting breathing.

“It is a critical condition. The patient cannot breathe and will die,” Hiếu who performed the surgery with the assistance of doctors from Phạm Ngọc Thạch Hospital, told a press meeting last week.

On June 12 doctors performed a five-hour surgery that removed the cancerous main bronchus and upper lobe. The bronchus of the spared lobes was reconstructed to the trachea.

The girl has recovered quickly and is now in stable condition. She will return to school soon and perform day-to-day activities but has been told not to undertake heavy physical activity.

She will receive chemotherapy at the Oncology Hospital during the next course of treatment. — VNS