Vietnamese doctors save Taiwanese man with thoracic aortic aneurysm
Today, Hoan My Cuu Long Hospital in Can Tho City announced that surgeons carried out an operation overnight to save a foreign man who had a complication of a thoracic aortic aneurysm including a rupture of the aorta or a life-threatening tear between the layers of the aorta's wall (aortic dissection). Rupture or dissection can lead to sudden death.
After more than four hours of emergency in the night, surgeons of Hoan My Cuu Long Hospital finished the operation to save the foreign man. The patient is being monitored for cardiovascular resuscitation. Currently, his health conditions are stable.
37-year-old Taiwanese man living and working in Can Tho City yesterday suddenly had chest pain, pain behind the sternum, sweating, and purple lips; his family relative soon took him to Hoan My Cuu Long Hospital for emergency treatment.
According to his family's relative, he had a history of hypertension but did not receive treatment. Through examination and paraclinical performance, doctors diagnosed the patient with thoracic and abdominal aortic dissection threatened with rupture, and hypertension in the background of obese patients.
After consultation, doctors decided to perform emergency surgery at night to solve the aortic endothelium causing dissection.
Surgeons of the Cardiology - Thoracic department performed emergency surgery to replace the thoracic aorta with an artificial graft and transferred the blood vessels to the graft tube.
Dr. Tran Phuoc Hoa, Head of Cardiology - Thoracic Surgery Department said that aortic dissection is an urgent emergency that needs immediate treatment to save the patient’s internal organs. This dangerous disease mostly has a silent course, especially in patients with long-standing high blood pressure and obesity.
Patients often do not have any symptoms during the incubation period, until symptoms suddenly appear, more dangerous complications such as dissection of the vessel wall, thromboembolism, and even a life-threatening rupture of a blood vessel. In particular, aortic dissection is a medical emergency with a mortality risk of up to 90 percent.
Dr. Hoa recommended that people go for regular health check-ups at least every six months. When a person has abdominal pain and a large mass in their abdomen, they need to go to the hospital to get an early diagnosis and a timely treatment plan to avoid unwanted complications.
