On the evening of May 10, a heart donated by a brain-dead patient at Quang Ninh General Hospital began beating again inside a recipient at the University of Medicine and Pharmacy Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City. This milestone marks the tenth successful heart transplant performed at the facility.
The recipient is a 23-year-old male suffering from end-stage heart failure. He was admitted with severe, progressive heart failure, requiring continuous vasoactive medications. Consequently, authorities placed him on the emergency waiting list of the National Coordination Center for Human Organ Transplantation. Despite the urgency, no matching donor heart became available during his initial wait.
Eight days prior to the transplant, the patient suffered cardiac arrest. Doctors immediately deployed Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO) to maintain his circulation and temporary survival while awaiting a donor organ.
Professor Nguyen Hoang Dinh, Deputy Director of the hospital and head of the transplant team, noted that maintaining ECMO for fulminant heart failure carries an accelerating risk of mortality over time. Given these high stakes, news of the brain-dead donor in Quang Ninh offered a final chance of survival.
However, the geographic distance presented severe logistical challenges. The long cold ischemia time—the period the organ remains chilled without blood supply—threatened the heart's recovery post-transplant. After careful consultation, the medical team accepted the donor heart and prepared extensive resuscitation and circulatory support strategies to ensure patient safety during and after the operation.
The transport process required precise coordination across multiple agencies. The donor heart was flown from Hai Phong to Ho Chi Minh City in approximately two hours. Upon arrival at Tan Son Nhat International Airport, traffic police cleared the roads, enabling the medical transport vehicle to reach the hospital in exactly nine minutes and 34 seconds.
The surgical team prepared the recipient in the operating room ahead of arrival. Approximately 50 minutes after the organ entered the theater, surgeons completed the transplant, and the donor heart successfully resumed beating.
