Vietnamese doctors succeed in first transplant of two lungs

HANOI, Dec 26 (Bernama) -- Doctors from the Hanoi-based Viet Duc Hospital announced that they have successfully conducted the first transplant of two lungs from a brain-dead donor on a cancer patient, Vietnam News Agency (VNA) reported.

Vietnam has so far successfully carried out three transplants of lungs but this is the first time Vietnamese doctors performed the transplant of two at the same time successfully.

This was also the first time the Vietnamese doctors could conduct the complicated transplant without assistance from foreign experts, said hospital director Tran Binh Giang at a press briefing on Monday.

The transplant of lung was considered the most complicated among organs, according to head of the hospital’s Cardio-vascular and Thoracic Surgery Department, Dr Nguyen Huu Uoc.

Vietnam has so far conducted 3,200 kidney transplant operations, 105 liver transplant operations, 27 heart transplant operations and only three cases of lung transplants. 

This year, the centre has cooperated with Vietnam Airlines to transport tissue and organs on its flights for free.

-- BERNAMA