A patient miraculously recovered after 80 days in a vegetative state

After 80 days of hospitalization, the patient regained consciousness with significant signs of neurological recovery such as being conscious, understanding English, and being able to raise his right arm and make a fist...

Dr. Nguyen Manh Hung's team performed brain surgery to save a Korean patient - Photo: FV

On the morning of October 31, according to information from FV Hospital, the patient was Mr. N., 41 years old, Korean nationality, residing in Ho Chi Minh City.

Previously, Mr. N. suffered a stroke, fell into a deep coma and was given emergency treatment at FV Hospital. However, after 80 days in a vegetative state, a miracle happened and Mr. N. regained consciousness.

According to information from the hospital, patient N. was brought to the emergency room in May 2024, unconscious, with his entire skin covered in vomit and his own waste. The patient was discovered by the security guard of the apartment building where he lived and taken to the emergency room.

Rapid test results showed that Mr. N. had low blood pressure, cerebral hemorrhage, deep coma, cerebral edema causing part of the brain to shift to the left side, severe pneumonia with septic shock. According to the emergency team's estimate, this patient had suffered a stroke for more than 48 hours before being discovered.

Dr. Nguyen Manh Hung, head of the Department of Neurosurgery and Endovascular Neurosurgery at FV Hospital, found that the patient's Glasgow score was 3, and according to medical guidelines, surgery would not be performed. However, the doctor still hoped to save the patient. The doctor asked the ICU doctors to continue resuscitation work on the patient.

A hospital consultation was urgently held, and the doctors decided to perform surgery. Because the patient had no relatives nearby, Dr. Hung personally signed the guarantee and, together with the team, performed the surgery to open the patient's skull.

The surgery lasted about 3 hours to release the hematoma in the skull, however the patient is still in a deep coma, the recovery is difficult to predict, and depends a lot on the post-operative care process.

In a vegetative state, the patient's health went through many ups and downs, constantly having fevers due to many life-threatening severe infections, and the patient even suffered from a serious pneumothorax.

In parallel with treating the patient, FV Hospital tried to find information about the patient's relatives and finally contacted his biological father and asked him to come to Vietnam.

And the miracle happened, after 80 days of hospitalization, Mr. N. woke up with significant signs of neurological recovery such as being conscious, understanding English and being able to raise his right hand and make a fist, although his movements were still weak due to paralysis on the left side of his body due to the sequelae of brain damage.

Currently, the patient is awake and has been transferred to a regular room for further monitoring and treatment by internists.

"I believe that the patient's intelligence will recover almost 100%, however, motor function will be difficult and will take a long time," Dr. Nguyen Manh Hung assessed.

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/mot-benh-nhan-hoi-phuc-dieu-ky-sau-80-ngay-song-thuc-vat-20241031101731286.htm