Successes in organ and tissue transplantation

August 12, 2004

Ha Noi (VNA) - The medical sector has planned to cooperate with Singapore in making artificial skin, President Le The Trung of the National Organ Transplant Council has reported.

Viet Nam has gained many achievements in organ and tissue transplantation despite poor conditions.

The first bone marrow transplant was successfully conducted on a leukemia patient in July 1995. In the near future, lymphoma (cancer) patients will be treated with stem cell transplants in which doctors will separate a stem cell from a donor's bone marrow and transplant it to a patient.

Furthermore, hospitals in HCM City and Hue are gaining positive results in umbilical cord stem cell transplants.

Besides successes in stem cell transplants, the first successful kidney tranplant was conducted by Army Hospital surgeons in 1992. Eight hospitals, including two paediatrics hospitals, have so far conducted such operations on 151 patients.

Another success of the health sector was the recent liver transplant performed at the Military Medicine Institute with the assistance of Japanese doctors.

Copyright © 2004 Vietnam News Agency.

This article posted September 6, 2004.