Vietnam’s transplant sector has moved from single-organ procedures to more complex techniques, including multi-organ and domino transplantation.
According to the Department of Medical Examination and Treatment Management under the Ministry of Health, the country has 34 transplant centres capable of performing heart, liver, lung, kidney and cornea transplants. Beyond single-organ procedures, specialists have also mastered multi-organ and domino transplantation.
Dr Ha Anh Duc, director of the department, said Vietnam’s capacity to perform these procedures has reached a level comparable to that of leading transplant centres worldwide.
Multi-organ transplantation involves transplanting two or more organs into the same patient when clinically indicated. Compared with single-organ transplantation, it requires more demanding patient selection, donor-organ assessment, surgical organisation and complication management.
Domino transplantation is a specialised technique in which an organ removed from one transplant recipient can be transplanted into another patient, provided strict professional criteria are met.
These procedures depend not only on surgical skill but also on co-ordination among several teams, an effective organ-coordination system and the ability to manage complex situations.
This reflects the development of the transplant speciality, from adopting advanced treatment methods to carrying out procedures with increasingly demanding professional requirements.
Liver transplantation remains one of the fields with the highest technical and treatment-organisation requirements.
A research work entitled “Application, Development and Successful Transfer of Liver Transplantation Techniques Contributing to Raising the Standing of Vietnam’s Organ Transplant Speciality” focuses on applying, developing and transferring liver transplantation techniques. The field is important to the treatment of serious liver diseases and the development of transplantation.
The work’s nomination for the Ho Chi Minh Prize means it will be reviewed against high standards of scientific and technological value and practical effectiveness.
Under Article 10 of Government Decree No 18/2024/NĐ-CP, a technology-application work considered for the Ho Chi Minh Prize must be exceptionally outstanding, have very high technological value and serve the revolutionary cause. It must also have a broad and lasting influence on people’s lives and make an important contribution to the country’s socio-economic development and to science and technology.
These criteria show that the Ho Chi Minh Prize recognises more than technical achievement. It also considers creativity, practical applicability and lasting influence.
For the liver-transplantation work, the results of research, technical development and technology transfer must be assessed on the basis of a scientific dossier, evidence of real-world effectiveness and specific contributions to the speciality.
Across the sector, the move from single-organ to multi-organ and domino transplantation is expanding the capacity to treat complex cases. However, these achievements are shared by many Vietnamese medical institutions and cannot be attributed solely to the liver-transplantation work mentioned above.
The development of the speciality also points to the need to further improve the system for organ donation, retrieval, co-ordination and transplantation in order to maintain treatment quality and protect patients’ interests.
From advances in organ transplantation to research works being considered for State-level science prizes, science and technology are steadily expanding the capabilities of Vietnamese medicine.
Sources: VietnamPlus / Vietnam News Agency
