Rapid heart transplant saves 15-year-old boy in Ho Chi Minh City

The hospital announced on Sunday evening that the transplant was carried out successfully overnight from Friday to Saturday.

The teenager, a resident of Ho Chi Minh City, is currently recovering well under intensive post-operative care.

The operation marked the hospital’s 11th heart transplant and was considered especially challenging as the entire process, from consultation and organ coordination to surgical preparation and transplantation, had to be completed in an extremely limited timeframe.

Before the surgery, the boy’s condition had deteriorated critically due to advanced heart failure.

Echocardiography results showed his heart function had fallen dramatically, with an ejection fraction of only around five percent, placing him at extremely high risk of death without immediate transplantation.

On Friday, the hospital received notification from Viet Duc University Hospital in Hanoi about a compatible donor heart.

At the time, doctors were monitoring two patients with end-stage heart failure who were awaiting transplantation.

Following an emergency consultation, the hospital’s medical board selected the 15-year-old patient based on the severity of his condition, the urgency of intervention, and compatibility with the donor organ.

Under the direction of Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Hoang Bac, director of the Ho Chi Minh City-based hospital, an emergency organ transplant protocol was immediately activated.

The heart transplant team, led by Professor Dr. Nguyen Hoang Dinh, deputy director of the hospital, coordinated with multiple departments and specialists to prepare for the operation.

At around 10:30 pm on Friday, the donor heart arrived in the operating room.

The new heart began beating inside the teenager’s chest at 11:45 pm the same day.

Doctors said the transplanted heart has remained stable since the surgery.

According to Prof. Dinh, the greatest challenge was the compressed preparation time.

From the moment a suitable donor heart was identified until all procedures were completed and the organ reached the operating room, the medical team had only about three hours to mobilize nearly 100 doctors, nurses, technicians, and support staff across multiple specialties.

“The experience accumulated from the previous 10 heart transplants, along with increasingly synchronized coordination between teams, formed the critical foundation that allowed the 11th transplant to be carried out safely and on time,” he said.

The successful operation further demonstrates the hospital’s growing capacity in organizing, coordinating, and performing advanced organ transplantation procedures, particularly in emergency situations.

Many patients with end-stage heart failure are still waiting for suitable donor organs to receive life-saving treatment.

The hospital also expressed gratitude to the donor and the donor’s family, while calling for organ donation to help save more lives in the future.