First split liver transplant successfully performed in Hanoi
For the first time in Vietnam, doctors have successfully performed a split liver transplant, dividing a donor’s liver and transplanting it to one adult and one child patient.
An organ transplantation surgery at Việt Nam – Germany Friendship Hospital in Hanoi. (Photo: VNA)
Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - For the firsttime in Vietnam, doctors at the Vietnam-Germany Hospital have successfullyperformed a split liver transplant, dividing a donor’s liver and transplantingit to one adult and one child patient.
The hospital last week announced that organs donated from a 30-year-old braindead man had been transplanted into five patients, including two kidney and twoliver 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 hadto split the donor’s liver and then transplant it into one child aged eight(was suffering liver failure - hepatic coma due to decompensated cirrhosis, aswell as copper metabolism disorder and congenital biliary atresia), and a49-year-old adult with liver cancer.
A simultaneous dividing and transplantation surgery was performed over 16hours, 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 thesplit liver transplant affirmed the professionalism of local medical staff andoffered a new opportunity for patients waiting for liver transplants.
At present, the source of livers for transplant remains limited, mainly frombrain-dead donors, but with the split liver procedures, one donated liver couldhelp two patients, he said.
The first split liver transplant was carried out in 1988 but it is difficult toimplement due to the lack of understanding on the anatomy of the donor liverbefore dividing, while the transplant for two patients at the same time alsorequired huge technical crews that could perform the liver transplant inemergency 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 alsosuccessfully carried out the first liver transplant from a brain-dead donor.-VNS/VNA
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An organ transplantation surgery at Việt Nam – Germany Friendship Hospital in Hanoi. (Photo: VNA) 
