According to a Viet Duc Hospital representative, the patient who underwent a heart-liver transplant was a 41-year-old man from Thanh Hoa Province. He had long suffered from dilated cardiomyopathy, a condition that gradually worsened, causing his organ function to decline over time, including deterioration of his liver, kidneys, and other vital systems.
The male patient was admitted to Viet Duc Hospital on September 30 due to heart failure . He had severe heart failure and did not respond to conventional treatment methods, especially acute progressive liver failure.
Without a liver and heart transplant, the patient's life was in jeopardy, as he required an artificial heart-lung system (ECMO) and continuous liver filtration to survive.
Viet Duc Hospital was informed by Nghe An General Hospital of a patient suffering from a severe brain injury whose family had generously offered to donate their loved one's organs. After receiving the information, a medical team of Viet Duc Hospital immediately went to Nghe An Province to help the donor's resuscitation, determine brain death, and evaluate the suitability of the organs for transplantation.
Doctors confirmed that the patient had experienced brain death on October 1 and that their organs could be donated.
Viet Duc Hospital's medical team was divided into two groups. One group assisted Nghe An General Hospital in conducting two kidney transplants. The other group swiftly transported the recovered organs to Viet Duc Hospital and performed a simultaneous heart-liver transplant on the male patient with organ failure.
After an eight-hour operation, the patient was moved to the intensive care unit for monitoring. The patient's liver and heart function progressively improved.
More than a week later, the recipient regained consciousness and was able to be taken off life support.
