First split liver transplant successfully performed in Hanoi

An organ transplantation surgery at Việt Nam – Germany Friendship Hospital in Hanoi. (Photo: VNA)

Hanoi (VNS/VNA) – For the first
time in Vietnam, have successfully
performed a , dividing a donor’s liver and transplanting
it to one adult and one child patient.

The hospital last week announced that organs donated from a 30-year-old brain
dead man had been transplanted into five patients, including and two
liver transplant recipients, as well as one heart transplant. In addition,
blood vessels had been sent to a preservation bank for other patients.

Doctor Nguyen Quang Nghia, head of the hospital’s Organ Transplantation Centre,
said the most complex aspect of the liver transplant was that medical staff had
to split the donor’s liver and then transplant it into one child aged eight
(was suffering liver failure – hepatic coma due to decompensated cirrhosis, as
well as copper metabolism disorder and congenital biliary atresia), and a
49-year-old adult with liver cancer.

A simultaneous dividing and transplantation surgery was performed over 16
hours, witnessing a combination of leading experts from multiple specialties.
Six days after the transplants, all five patients have recovered well.

Professor Tran Binh Giang, director of the hospital, said the success of the
split liver transplant affirmed the professionalism of local medical staff and
offered a new opportunity for patients waiting for liver transplants.

At present, the source of livers for transplant remains limited, mainly from
brain-dead donors, but with the split liver procedures, one donated liver could
help two patients, he said.

The first split liver transplant was carried out in 1988 but it is difficult to
implement due to the lack of understanding on the anatomy of the donor liver
before dividing, while the transplant for two patients at the same time also
required huge technical crews that could perform the liver transplant in
emergency conditions with complex techniques.

The first adult liver transplant was successfully performed at the Vietnam–
German Hospital on November 28, 2007. On April 15, 2010, the hospital also
successfully carried out the first liver transplant from a brain-dead donor.-VNS/VNA