In Vietnam, adult heart travels over 1,600km to save 9-year-old boy

The extraordinary transplant stands as a powerful testament to the life-saving humanity of organ donation.

The University Medical Center in Ho Chi Minh City on Tuesday announced the successful cross-country heart transplant that rescued the young patient.

The process began on Saturday morning, when the hospital urgently coordinated with the 108 Military Central Hospital in Hanoi and the Children’s Hospital in the southern metropolis to activate a critical protocol for heart retrieval, transportation, and transplantation under extreme time pressure.

The donated heart became available at a moment when every minute was crucial for the boy’s survival.

Immediately, the hospital’s heart transplant council convened an emergency meeting, led by Prof. Dr. Truong Quang Binh, president of the council, along with heads of relevant departments and representatives from the Children’s Hospital, to assess the boy’s condition and plan the surgery.

Meanwhile, the 108 Military Central Hospital completed the multi-organ retrieval from a brain-dead donor.

Dr. Cao Dang Khang, head of the cardiac surgery department at the University Medical Center, oversaw the heart extraction.

The heart was then meticulously preserved and transported over 1,600 kilometers to Ho Chi Minh City, arriving in optimal condition for the operation.

Before the special journey, the medical team expressed deep gratitude to the donor and his family, whose selfless act offered life even amid profound grief.

The surgery posed unique challenges.

Prof. Dr. Nguyen Hoang Dinh, deputy director of the center, said that the boy was the youngest patient ever to receive a heart transplant at the center.

The donor weighed 57 kilograms, while the boy weighs only 33 kilograms, requiring precise calculations to fit the adult heart into the child’s chest cavity.

Complications were heightened by the boy’s recent pneumonia, high fever, and infection prior to surgery.

Elevated pulmonary artery pressure and a heart preservation time of up to six hours added further risk to post-transplant recovery.

The operation began at 3:11 pm on Saturday.

At around 7:00 pm the same day, the donated heart began beating in the boy’s chest, eliciting tears of joy and relief from the surgical team.

“The heart has been beating strongly and steadily for over 90 minutes. We are confident the transplant will succeed,” said Prof. Dr. Dinh.

The surgery concluded at 10:27 pm after completing hemostasis, drainage, and chest closure.

Forty-eight hours after surgery, the boy was awake, cooperative, hemodynamically stable, and showing clear improvement in kidney and organ function, offering hope for a full recovery.

The remarkable transplant not only marks a major professional milestone, but also tells a deeply human story: the convergence of a donor’s selfless act, the dedication of medical professionals, and the resilience of a nine-year-old boy, together creating a miraculous testament to the power of life.