The lungs revived

On the morning of September 23, three patients who had successfully received lung transplants attended a meeting at the Central Lung Hospital (Hanoi). These were patients who had been on the brink of death. Without the lung transplant, they would have had only a few months to live. However, now they are all healthy, able to live, work and study like other normal people.

Sharing at the meeting, Mr. Dinh Van Luong, Director of the Central Lung Hospital, said that successful transplants are an important step forward for Vietnamese medicine. “After more than 4 years of successful double lung transplant, patient Nguyen Xuan Toai is the lung transplant patient with the longest survival in our country. This year, the hospital has coordinated to successfully perform lung transplants for 2 patients Pham Anh Thu and Trinh Thi Hien,” Mr. Luong shared.

As the first lung transplant case of the Lung Transplant Center, Central Lung Hospital in 2020, Mr. Nguyen Xuan Toai (58 years old, from Thanh Hoa) became the lung transplant recipient with the longest survival time in Vietnam. Mr. Toai said that he had previously suffered from interstitial pneumonia. “Also around September 4 years ago, the doctor told me that I might only live 2-3 more months. At that time, my lungs were 80% damaged,” Mr. Toai recalled.

At that time, he did not think he could live, but luck smiled on him. He received 2 lungs from a brain-dead donor.

“After the lung transplant, I was able to live longer and now it has been more than 4 years. The happy thing is that I was able to witness the moment my son built a family, saw the family happy and harmonious. I really hope that many people can be saved like me,” Mr. Toai shared.

Pham Anh Thu (21 years old, from Bac Kan) - the young girl who received a lung transplant on the 30th of the Lunar New Year - has now returned to university to continue her dreams and ambitions. Before that, Thu had to temporarily put her studies on hold because she was suffering from a rare lung disease in the final stage.

Now, after 8 months of lung transplant, Thu happily said that she has gained 7kg, her health is stable, and she is living normally.

Recalling the 30th of the Lunar New Year of Giap Thin (2024), the family thought that this would be Thu's last Tet in this world. When she was chosen for a lung transplant, she was very happy, but also felt sorry for the two other patients who were not as lucky as her.

“When I woke up after the transplant, I couldn’t believe that inside my chest were two lungs belonging to another person. I was able to go back to school and continue living,” Thu shared.

Striving to become a regional organ transplant center

Mr. Dinh Van Luong shared that lung transplant is the most difficult technique among organ transplant techniques. Lung transplants are performed according to international standards, requiring strict coordination between all departments and specialized departments.

The transplants were performed at the Central Lung Hospital with the support of hospitals and the Organ Transplant Coordination Center. In particular, the remote support of experts at the UCSF Lung Transplant Center, University of California, San Francisco, one of the most prestigious Medical Centers in the world, opened up opportunities for the development of lung transplant techniques in Vietnam.

“The third lung transplant on patient Trinh Thi Hien is considered a difficult case and poses many challenges for doctors and medical staff.

Patients with complex underlying diseases. Difficult anatomical structures require high technical skills of surgeons, while post-transplant care and recovery are complex, requiring timely intervention from all specialties.

Successful lung transplants will help save thousands of patients who can only be cured by lung transplants,” Mr. Luong shared.

In the future, the Central Lung Hospital hopes to build and develop a regional lung transplant center, becoming an address to receive, manage and implement lung transplant techniques for patients in Vietnam and other countries in the region.

Mr. Dinh Van Luong also said that the hospital strives for Vietnam to become a country with a name on the world map for lung transplants.

Tuoitre.vn

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/bac-si-viet-hoi-sinh-nhung-la-phoi-phan-dau-tro-thanh-trung-tam-cua-vung-20240923115822245.htm