Doctors at Hue Central Hospital in Hue City, central Vietnam perform a kidney transplant involving the long-distance transportation of a donated organ. Photo: Hue Central Hospital
In the fourth procedure, a 12-year-old boy received a kidney from a 26-year-old brain-dead donor in Hanoi.
The transplanted kidney began functioning immediately after surgery, producing urine while the patient was still on the operating table.
The boy produced approximately 3,000 milliliters of urine during the first 24 hours after transplantation.
Output subsequently stabilized at between 2,000 and 2,500 milliliters per day.
He remains under postoperative monitoring and treatment.
A close-up of a LifePort organ transporter, which helps preserve donated kidneys for transplantation for up to 18 hours. Photo: Hue Central Hospital
Regarding the fifth transplant, a team from the hospital traveled by car for nine hours overnight from Hue to retrieve an organ from a 22-year-old brain-dead donor in the Central Highlands province of Gia Lai.
The kidney was immediately placed in a LifePort organ transporter for preservation.
It was then transported by air from Pleiku to Ho Chi Minh City and onward to Hue to minimize transit time.
Despite the long distance and the need to coordinate multiple forms of transportation, the kidney was preserved for approximately 18 hours under cold ischemic conditions, marking a record for the hospital.
After blood flow was restored, the transplanted kidney quickly turned pink and firm and began producing urine while the recipient was still on the operating table.
As of Monday, both transplant recipients were in generally stable condition, the hospital said.
The successful procedures highlight the role of LifePort technology in preserving donated organs, particularly when they are transported over long distances from donor hospitals to transplant centers.
The operations also required close coordination among the national organ donation and transplant coordination network, donor hospitals, organ retrieval and transportation teams, airlines, and surgical staff.
Aside from medical expertise and advanced technology, the hospital emphasized the importance of organ donation by donors and their families.
Timely retrieval, preservation, and transplantation of donated organs can offer a new chance at life to patients with end-stage organ disease.
The hospital pledged to further strengthen its transplant capabilities, expand cooperation with other hospitals, and adopt advanced techniques to improve treatment outcomes while promoting organ and tissue donation.