British COVID-19 patient has severe lung damage, needs transplant

Medical staff at airport (Illustrative image. Source: VNA)

HCM City (VNA) – A , who is the 91st COVID-19 patient in
Vietnam, is suffering 90 percent damage to his lungs, according to the Ho Chi Minh City Hospital for Tropical Diseases where he is being treated. 

The patient is now completely dependent on Extracorporeal Membrane
Oxygenation (ECMO).

His CT results on May 13 showed severe
solidification and fibrosis of the , making it difficult for oxygen to get
into the patient’s blood. 

On May 12, the
Ministry of Health (MoH) hosted a consultation with health experts from the
country’s top hospitals on the case, concluding that a lung transplant is the
only solution to save the patient. 

However, it requires him to be given the all-clear and receive intensive
antibiotic stewardship before being transferred to Cho Ray Hospital for the transplant. 

Confirmed as a patient on March 18, the pilot has been suffering
from a high fever since being hospitalised and his respiratory system has
worsened despite him being just 43 years old and in otherwise good health.

He is also suffering from blood clots and cytokine storm syndrome – an
intense immune response where the immune system releases a lot of cytokines
through the bloodstream, which actually works against the body instead of
protecting it.

His body was resistant to all types of anti-clotting medication, so the MoH
has had to buy rare drugs from overseas to treat him, said Doctor Nguyen Van Kinh, head of the MoH’s professional council for COVID-19
treatment. 

Another severe case of COVID-19, the 287th patient – a 50-year-old woman
returning from United Arab
Emirates (UAE) –
is also under treatment at the hospital. Her X-ray results on May 12 showed increasing lung
damage. 

On May 13, the
patient recovered from a fever, her pulse and blood pressure remained stable./.