VietNamNet Bridge - The doctors at the Military Hospital 103 have successfully conducted the first lung transplant operation in Vietnam, saving the life of a 7-year-old child who was born with bronchiectasis.

Ly Chuong Binh, the patient, received lungs from two living donors – his father and uncle. Two days after the operation was carried out, Binh has begun his recovery.

According to Hoang Van Chuong, an anesthesiologist, this is the first lung transplant surgery conducted at the hospital. Prior to that, the hospital carried out the first kidney transplant in 1992, liver transplant in 2004, heart transplant in 2010 and pancreas – kidney transplant in 2014.

The patient received lungs from two donors instead of one. The patient suffered from bronchiectasis which seriously affected his heart’s function. The boy was malnourished, weighing 14 kilos at the age of seven.

Because of the special characteristics of the surgery, doctors had to prepare the disinfection of the operating room carefully and disinfect the room several times. 

“The environmental conditions were good and were ready for the surgery slated for February 21,” he recalled the work.

At 7.30 am on February 21, the doctors brought the first donor – Binh’s father – into the operating room. Thirty minutes later, the second donor – Binh’s uncle – was also brought into the operating room. At 8.30 am, the transplant surgery began.

“All the work was done perfectly. The surgery finished sooner than initially planned,” Chuong said, adding that the surgery was expected to finish at 7 pm, but the patient was brought to an isolated room at 5.30 pm. The operation took 10 hours.

Just 30 minutes later, the two lung donors could breathe without a machine.

Nguyen Tien Quyet, Major General, director of the Military Medical Academy, at the press conference held a day after the surgery was conducted, said the patient was being put under special care, while his survival indicators were stable. The two donors were also in good health.

When asked if there was any threat to the lung donors, Quyet said that human lungs can dilate, therefore, if a part of lung is cut, the remaining part will still dilate and fulfill its function. Medical records show that some people become even healthier.

Oto Takahiro from Japanese Okayama Hospital said Vietnamese and Japanese surgeons cooperated very well in conducting the surgery. He saId that Vietnamese surgeons fulfilled the task very well, believing that the quality will improve in the next cases.

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