When one heart stops beating so that others may live on, it represents not only a medical transfer but also a continuation of compassion and humanity, said Professor Dr Pham Nhu Hiep, Director of the Hue Central Hospital.
A kidney transplant performed at the Hue Central Hospital. (Photo published by VNA)
The Hue Central Hospital has successfully retrieved organs and tissues from a neurologically deceased donor to perform six transplants, including heart, liver, kidney, and cornea procedures, saving lives and restoring vision for multiple patients.
The hospital announced on April 29 that the organ procurement was conducted from a donor in Hue city. The transplants were carried out from April 16 to 18 with the coordinated participation of nearly 200 medical personnel from various clinical and paraclinical departments. All recipients had been in severe medical condition before the transplants.
On April 15, the hospital’s organ transplant centre received a donation request from the family of a 44-year-old patient in Hue. The patient had been admitted with severe traumatic brain injury following an accident, falling into a deep coma with a poor prognosis. Despite intensive treatment, his condition showed no signs of improvement.
The next day, after the patient was confirmed brain-dead, the hospital’s transplant council reported the case to the National Coordinating Centre for Human Organ Transplantation to identify the most suitable recipients from the waiting list.
At 8:45 pm that same day, following a moment of silence to honour the donor, a coordinated surgical campaign was launched in five operating rooms under the direct supervision of Professor Dr Pham Nhu Hiep, Director of the Hue Central Hospital. Nearly 200 medical personnel worked through the night with urgency and precision to ensure the procedures' success.
As of April 27, all transplant recipients had shown stable recovery, with clear consciousness and the ability to eat normally. The heart transplant patient, a 41-year-old resident of Hue, recorded an ejection fraction (EF) exceeding 60%. The liver transplant recipient, a 64-year-old from Lam Dong province, demonstrated good liver function recovery, with blood bilirubin levels returning to normal.
Meanwhile, two kidney transplant patients, aged 34 from Da Nang and 30 from Quang Tri, showed improving creatinine levels and stable urine output of over 2.5–3.5 litres per day. Two patients suffering from severe corneal ulcers, who had previously lost their vision and were from Nghe An and Quang Tri provinces, partially regained eyesight and were discharged on April 18 after successful corneal transplants.
Hiep said that at a moment when one life had to end, medical teams made every effort to ensure that other lives could continue in the fullest way possible. He expressed profound gratitude to the donor and the donor’s family, noting that their decision had transformed loss into hope and created new beginnings for others.
He emphasised that when one heart stops beating so that others may live on, it represents not only a medical transfer but also a continuation of compassion and humanity. The courage and generosity of the donor and family, he added, will live on in the renewed lives of the recipients.
The hospital director also noted that within about one week, the facility had successfully conducted multiple transplant procedures, including one heart transplant, one liver transplant, ten kidney transplants, two brain-dead donor cases, and two corneal transplants. These achievements highlight the hospital’s growing expertise and strong coordination among its staff./.
VNA