Brother’s donation enables hospital’s first liver transplant

A 29-year-old man has donated part of his liver to his critically ill older brother in the first liver transplant performed at Thống Nhất Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City. Following the eight-hour operation, both men were stable, the donor had returned home and the recipient’s new liver was functioning well.

The 50-year-old recipient had liver cancer alongside advanced cirrhosis caused by hepatitis B and C. He had experienced serious complications, including fluid accumulation and gastrointestinal bleeding. Doctors concluded that transplantation offered an opportunity to extend his life and improve its quality.

After learning of his brother’s condition, the younger man left his construction job in Hà Tĩnh and underwent nearly two months of medical assessments and legal and ethical reviews. During surgery on August 22, one team removed a portion of his right liver while another removed the diseased liver and prepared the recipient. Blood flow to the transplanted tissue was successfully restored.

Specialists from Military Central Hospital 108 supported the multidisciplinary team at Thống Nhất, which had prepared for the procedure through training and technology transfer. The recipient remained under close observation for rejection, infection and other complications, but his blood and biochemical results were improving. The hospital is now the seventh center in southern Vietnam equipped to perform liver transplants.