Hospital performs liver transplant operation

Doctors at Cho Ray Hospital in HCM City on September 18 announced that they have successfully performed an adult living donor liver transplantation (LDLT) with medical technology assistance from a Republic of Korea (RoK) liver transplantation team at the ASAN Medical Centre.

The patient, a 50-year-old man from Tan Phu district, who had cirrhosis of the liver and hepatitis B, was hospitalised with the last stage of liver failure in late July.

On August 15, 30 surgeons and nurses, including 12 from the RoK, performed a 14-hour surgery, using a 750-gram liver section taken from his 18-year-old son, said Dr. Pham Huu Thien Chi, deputy head of the hospital's Hepato-Biliary-Pancreatic Surgery Department.

The patient was transferred to the intensive care unit for two weeks. He is now in stable condition and is expected to leave the hospital this week, Chi said.

His son, who left the hospital after a 12-day post-transplant care period, is also in good condition, he said.

Doctors will continue to monitor his health after he leaves the hospital to prevent common transplant-related health issues, he added.

It is the second LDLT performed at the hospital, said Dr. Tran Quyet Tien, deputy director of the hospital.

"This successful operation has laid a major cornerstone for the liver transplantation procedure in the southern region," he said.

"The hospital will work closely with ASAN Medical Centre to perform at least 10 cases of liver transplantation, including deceased donor liver transplantation," Tien added.

Last year, the hospital performed the first adult LDLT in the southern region.

To date, fewer than 30 adult and pediatric LDLT operations have been performed in Vietnam, he said.