3 years ago, L. was diagnosed with dilated cardiomyopathy and was treated conservatively with specific drugs at the National Children's Hospital.

Dr. Duong Duc Hung, Director of Viet Duc Friendship Hospital, asked about the health of a child patient after a heart transplant.

Recently, heart failure has progressed rapidly and severely, responding poorly to conservative treatment. The patient was diagnosed with end-stage heart failure, and the optimal treatment option for the patient is a heart transplant.

Cardiologists at the Cardiovascular and Thoracic Center, Viet Duc Friendship Hospital said that each year, the country only has a few cases of brain death organ donation, and the opportunity to find a suitable donor for a heart transplant for a child is very difficult.

The patient's end-stage heart failure made it difficult for him to breathe, requiring him to stay in bed, and responding poorly to treatment. Without a heart transplant, the patient's chances of surviving beyond one year are very low.

Luckily for the child, a brain-dead person donated a heart, helping to revive the child. The organ indexes of the donor and recipient were completely compatible, however the donor's body index was 3.5 times greater than the patient's.

The large difference in body mass index causes many difficulties in surgery and post-transplant recovery, which is a challenge for transplant centers in the country and around the world.

At Viet Duc Friendship Hospital, doctors with experience in 9 pediatric heart transplant cases have predicted the above difficulties and provided an active treatment regimen for the child.

After 1 week of heart transplant, the patient's body gradually adapted to the heart. After 3 weeks of surgery, the child recovered very well. It is known that this is the 10th pediatric heart transplant at Viet Duc Friendship Hospital.

The patient is alert, eating and living normally and is eligible to be discharged from the hospital. Just 3 weeks ago, he had difficulty breathing and had to stay in bed due to end-stage heart failure. Now, L. is healthy, running around and is happy and full of life.

Touched by the dedication of the angels in white for their treatment and care, I happily wrote a handwritten letter to thank the doctors and hoped to get well soon so I can return to school with my friends.

Experts say that although Vietnam's organ transplant work started 40 years after the world, it has developed at a remarkable speed and caught up with the world.

Over the years, successful organ transplants, reviving the lives of countless patients, have been a testament to the skills of our country's doctors who have approached and conquered cutting-edge techniques in the field of organ transplants.

To be able to do that requires the constant efforts, learning, training and improving of techniques and knowledge of scientists, doctors and surgeons with the desire to bring life to thousands of patients.

Prof. Dr. Pham Gia Khanh, President of the Vietnam Organ Transplant Association, said that organ transplantation is considered a miracle of medicine because it is the only way to save patients with organ failure. Vietnam's organ transplantation started 40 years after the world but has developed at a remarkable speed and caught up with the world.

Some other opinions say that currently, organ transplants can only meet the needs of less than 10% of patients due to a lack of donated organs and financial capacity. Therefore, social insurance agencies should pay more for organ transplants, especially kidney transplants.

On the other hand, organ transplantation should be expanded to qualified facilities. This expansion is a way for localities to share the financial burden at large hospitals.

To do that, frontline hospitals and the health sector need to have short-term and long-term training programs to develop organ transplant techniques in general and kidney transplants in particular because kidney transplant patients currently account for a large number.