Doctors revive many children with liver transplants

Dr. Tran Thanh Tri (left) performs surgery on a child patient. Photo: BVCC

Liver transplantation is the only chance to save the lives of children with end-stage liver failure and cirrhosis. Lao Dong Newspaper had a conversation with Dr. Tran Thanh Tri - Head of the Hepatobiliary Pancreas and Liver Transplant Department of Children's Hospital 2 - to listen to the doctor's sharing about this field.

Doctor, can you tell me how you got into medicine?

- I was a child with many illnesses that made my mother work hard to earn a living and buy medicine, so she wanted me to become a doctor to help myself and help others in a practical way. That desire has motivated me to nurture my dream since I was a child and to constantly strive to achieve it.

It was my respected teacher - Prof. Dr. Tran Dong A - who oriented me to the field of pediatric surgery and organ transplantation. In the first years after graduating from general medicine, he sent me to study at Saint-Luc Institute, the leading organ transplantation center in Europe. Since then, my passion for this field has been formed and has grown to this day.

The surgical team took a photo after the successful liver transplant. Photo: BVCC

During the journey, what advantages and challenges have you encountered?

- I used to be a pediatrician, graduated from a level 1 pediatric specialist, so when I switched to pediatric surgery and especially the field of liver transplantation - a field that requires a lot of coordination between internal medicine and surgery, I had many advantages in team coordination, care and treatment of pediatric patients with diseases requiring surgical intervention.

Being trained in the general organ transplant environment and liver transplant in particular at the leading European organ transplant center helped me accumulate a lot of knowledge, experience and expertise in this specialized field.

In the field of general pediatrics, the journey of self-improvement is not too challenging if you are a studious, progressive person, respect your teachers and work at one of the leading pediatric centers in Vietnam.

The field of pediatric surgery in Vietnam has already reached the regional level. Stepping out of the "home gate" is not too difficult with the strong development of information technology and policies to expand international cooperation in the field.

The field of liver transplantation still has many challenges because it requires coordination between many specialties and many centers. Building a multidisciplinary team and inter-hospital coordination on liver transplantation in Ho Chi Minh City to perform routine liver transplantation for children is quite difficult because of the lack of well-trained personnel and partners with the same goals.

Of the liver transplants you have performed, which case left the deepest impression on you?

- A memorable event can be said to be the 35th liver transplant case in July 2024. This was a case with a rare underlying disease.

To ensure the safe removal of the liver for the mother and the successful liver transplant for the child, we consulted many times with domestic and foreign experts. From there, we came up with different solutions for each situation and established a treatment process before, during and after surgery.

The liver removal and transplantation went as planned and the postoperative course was smooth. We have shared our experience of this case in a prestigious international pediatric transplant journal and have just been approved in early 2025.

Children's Hospital 2 is one of the pediatric hospitals that has performed kidney and liver transplants for children very early, with liver transplants since 2005. Photo: BVCC

What do you consider to be your greatest achievement in your career?

- Up to this point, the greatest achievement that I have seen is building a team of personnel with many specialized specialties that can coordinate smoothly to perform routine liver transplant surgery at Children's Hospital 2.

What are the doctors' expectations for the development of organ transplantation in Vietnam in general and Children's Hospital 2 in particular?

- In late 2024 and early 2025, organ transplant surgeries will be performed more frequently, by the National Organ Transplant Coordination Center in collaboration with many hospitals across the country.

I hope that 2025 will be a turning point to help organ retrieval and transplantation in Vietnam in general and Children's Hospital 2 in particular reach important milestones such as the number of organs donated from brain-dead donors, the number of cases of organ transplants from brain-dead donors, the number of livers distributed to patients, multiple organ transplants...

Organ transplantation in general and liver transplantation in particular across the country will enter a "boom" phase, starting from the beginning of this year.

Thank you doctor!

Source: https://laodong.vn/y-te/bac-si-hoi-sinh-su-song-cho-nhieu-tre-tu-ghep-gan-1467424.ldo