Vietnam’s first patient undergoing a lung transplant with the organ donated by a brain-dead person is now in stable health 16 days after the operation, doctors said.

Scene at the lung transplant at the Central Military Hospital 108

Lieut. Gen. Mai Hong Bang, Director of Central Military Hospital 108, which performed the surgery, told a press conference on March 16 that the 52-year-old patient Tran Ngoc H from Nam Dinh province was diagnosed with acute respiratory failure due to his full-blown chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The patient’s only chance to survive was lung transplant. 

After finding a brain-dead donor, the hospital held a 40-hour inter-hospital consultation and decided to perform the transplant for the patient. The plant lasted up to eight hours on February 26.

A week after the operation, the patient’s health recovered positively. After 16 days, the patient can breathe himself, walk around the room, and eat gruel, with good results gained in different medical tests.

Bang said the donor’s organs were used for kidney, cornea, and heart transplants for six other people.

To date, the hospital has successfully performed 18 kidney transplants, one liver transplant, 14 cornea transplants, and 27 marrow transplants.-VNA