Vietnamese doctor performs complex heart surgery technique and shows it in Singapore

On the morning of January 27, Prof. Dr. Pham Manh Hung, Director of the Vietnam Heart Institute, said that the intervention was performed on the afternoon of January 26 on an 80-year-old female patient with many underlying diseases such as high blood pressure, diabetes, kidney failure and only one kidney left.

The patient was admitted to the provincial hospital for acute coronary artery disease. After undergoing percutaneous coronary angiography for intervention, the patient was transferred to the Vietnam Heart Institute because the coronary artery injury was very complicated and high risk.

Percutaneous coronary angiography results showed that the patient had severe stenosis of 3 coronary arteries and severe stenosis of the left main coronary artery.

"This is a very dangerous narrow position right at the intersection of the three "unique" blood supply routes to the heart. The mortality rate during hospitalization is 11.5% if the patient has stable hemodynamics and 32% if the patient has cardiogenic shock.", Mr. Hung said.

According to Mr. Hung, with this serious injury, previously, open surgery was required. But the patient had many underlying diseases, so open surgery was very risky. Therefore, the doctors decide on the choice of interventional dilation and stent placement for the patient.

The doctors divided the intervention into two phases. The first phase involved intervention on the right coronary artery branch, which was a secondary branch a week earlier, to facilitate the next intervention.

The second intervention was performed on the afternoon of January 26, and was presented live at a cardiovascular conference in Singapore.

The surgical team led by Prof. Dr. Pham Manh Hung and doctors from the Cardiovascular Institute successfully performed the intervention in about an hour, within the allowed time frame during a live broadcast of the conference.

The complex coronary artery lesion was successfully treated with an intervention technique using two stents (small metal mesh frames) inserted into the coronary artery to widen the artery and prevent it from narrowing again. The patient is currently stable and can be discharged from the hospital one to two days after the intervention.

The Director of the National Heart Institute said that in the past, open surgery was considered the first choice. However, with the development of interventional instruments, along with the experience of interventional cardiologists, percutaneous coronary intervention gives results equivalent to surgery.

Instead of having to wait for a surgery schedule and endure major surgery and a long post-operative period, patients can be discharged from the hospital in just a few days thanks to this technique, with the elderly benefiting the most.

The Singapore Live 2024 Interventional Cardiology Conference will take place from January 25 to 27, with many demonstrations of basic and advanced cardiovascular intervention techniques. This year, the National Heart Institute is one of 14 bridges to demonstrate cardiovascular techniques along with Sri Lanka, India, Thailand, Singapore, Hong Kong, Belgium...