Doctors from Tu Du Hospital and Children's Hospital No.1 in HCM City successfully performed a complex in-utero heart intervention on a 22-week-old foetus diagnosed with a severe congenital heart defect on Wednesday.
The expectant mother is a 41-year-old Singaporean woman.
This was the ninth foetal cardiac intervention carried out in HCM City, and it is considered the most challenging case so far due to the early gestational age of the foetus (22 weeks, weighing just 600 grammes) and the severity of the heart defect.
The patient, K.W.S., conceived her first child through in vitro fertilisation (IVF) after more than a decade of infertility.
Her baby is due in September 2025.
Doctors at KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital in Singapore had detected a serious congenital heart defect in the foetus, posing a high risk of stillbirth. The foetus was diagnosed with aortic atresia, a rare and severe congenital heart defect in which the aortic valve fails to develop.
As this advanced intervention is not currently available in Singapore, the hospital referred the patient to Children’s Hospital No.1 and Tu Du Hospital in HCM City.
The Singaporean medical team had been informed of the recent successes by HCM City doctors in performing in-utero cardiac interventions.
Upon examination at Children’s Hospital No. 1, Vietnamese doctors confirmed the diagnosis.
A multidisciplinary team from the two hospitals then consulted remotely with leading experts in Australia and France.
All parties agreed on the diagnosis and the urgent need for early intervention to save the foetus.
The first procedure, carried out on May 22, was unsuccessful.
However, after meticulous preparation and close interdisciplinary coordination, the second attempt on May 28 was successful.
Moved to tears
Ultrasound imaging following the intervention that showed blood flow returning through the aortic valve is believed to be an emotionally charged moment for the entire medical team.
The patient and her family were overcome with emotion, moved to tears by the outcome.
A leading hospital in Singapore chose to refer a patient to HCM City for treatment reflects not only confidence in Vietnam’s medical capabilities but also growing recognition across ASEAN of the country’s advanced expertise in foetal medicine.
Tang Chi Thuong, Director of the HCM City’s Department of Health, said the success was as a significant milestone in the city’s development of foetal medicine and specialised medical techniques, reaffirming the city’s ambition to become a leading medical hub in Southeast Asia.
According to the department, the success was the result of strategic, long-term investment and close collaboration among multiple specialities of obstetrics, paediatric cardiology, neonatal anaesthesia and resuscitation, diagnostic imaging across the city’s two top-tier hospitals./.
