VietNamNet Bridge – Hanoi's National Paediatrics Hospital conducted its fourth liver transplant yesterday on a five-year-old girl suffering from severe cirrhosis.

Hanoi's National Paediatrics Hospital conducted its fourth liver transplant yesterday. (Photo: Dr Ngoc Hung)

The results of the operation on Nguyen Thi Hai Anh, from the northern province of Hai Duong, were not known before press time. The young girl would likely have died without the liver transplant, according surgeons.

Leading Vietnamese doctors — including Prof. Do Kim Son, Prof. Le The Trung and Prof. Nguyen Thanh Liem — operated on the girl after consulting with Taiwanese experts who have successfully carried out hundreds of transplants.

Anh's 54-year-old paternal grandmother, Nguyen Thi Dinh, donated a portion of her liver for the operation.

The hospital, in co-ordination with doctors from the Republic of Korea, has successfully performed three liver transplants. The first, which was Vietnam's second such surgery, was carried out in July, 2005. The recipient was a 14-year-old boy from Phu Tho Province.

Vietnam's first liver transplant took place at the National Burn Institute in February 2004 with the support of Japanese experts.

(Source: Viet Nam News)