The Nhi Dong 2 Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City has successfully transplanted a kidney from a brain dead donor in Hanoi into a 15-year-old patient.

Dinh Viet Huy from Lam Dong province, who suffers from end-stage kidney failure, is the first child patient in Vietnam to receive a kidney from a brain-dead donor.

The kidney from the 43-year-old donor was transported from Viet Duc Hospital in Hanoi to HCM City by air on December 12. The operation was conducted at 21:00 the same day.

On December 24, the child patient is in stable conditions and is able to urinate 4 litres of urine a day. Doctors said he can return to school in six months.

The successful use of an organ from a brain-dead donor for a child patient opens up opportunities to save the lives of many children suffering from fatal diseases. Vietnam’s law does not allow the donation of viscera from under-18 children.

VNA/VNP