National Taiwan University Hospital (NTUH) doctors who performed the first successful adult liver transplant in Vietnam declared the operation a success at a news conference at NTUH yesterday.
Following an invitation from Hanoi's Viet Duc hospital, an 18-member NTUH team set off for Hanoi to operate on a patient who is suffering from cirrhosis as well as early-stage liver cancer.
The doctors said at yesterday's news conference that a 47-year-old woman, surnamed Nguyen, has recovered well since her operation two months ago.
PHOTO: CNA
"She is now out of the danger zone as far as post-operative infection is concerned," said Lee Po-huang (李伯皇), a surgeon at NTUH and the leader of the medical team that performed Nguyen's operation.
Liver transplants from a living donor have been successfully performed for more than a decade in Taiwan and are now considered a "routine procedure," with survival rates in excess of 90 percent, excluding patients who are afflicted with advanced kidney cancer, surgeon Hu Rey-heng (胡瑞恆) said, another member of the team.
Five previous liver transplants had been attempted in Vietnam, including one spearheaded by doctors from Taipei's Veterans' General Hospital, but none of the five patients, all children, had survived.
Operating outside of Taiwan presented challenges, the doctors said, because the operating rooms at the Viet Duc hospital were not equipped with high efficiency particulate air, or HEPA, filters, resulting in a slightly sub-optimal level of sterility in the room. The language barrier also caused minor misunderstandings between the doctors and the Vietnamese medical staff supporting them, they said.
Fortunately, no serious incidents occurred during the 11-hour operation, the doctors said.
Lee explained that the laws in Vietnam have yet to define brain death, so organ donation is only possible from live donors who choose to give up a portion of their liver or one of their two kidneys. In this case, Nguyen received a liver transplant from her nephew, who gave up 60 percent of his liver.
Nguyen Tien Quyet, director of the Viet Duc hospital, has been quoted in the Vietnamese state media as saying the hospital would continue to attempt more complicated surgery, such as heart transplants, in the wake of the success.
Taiwan is to have nine extended holidays next year, led by a nine-day Lunar New Year break, the Cabinet announced yesterday. The nine-day Lunar New Year holiday next year matches the length of this year’s holiday, which featured six extended holidays. The increase in extended holidays is due to the Act on the Implementation of Commemorative and Festival Holidays (紀念日及節日實施條例), which was passed early last month with support from the opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party. Under the new act, the day before Lunar New Year’s Eve is also a national holiday, and Labor Day would no longer be limited
COMMITMENTS: The company had a relatively low renewable ratio at 56 percent and did not have any goal to achieve 100 percent renewable energy, the report said Pegatron Corp ranked the lowest among five major final assembly suppliers in progressing toward Apple Inc’s commitment to be 100 percent carbon neutral by 2030, a Greenpeace East Asia report said yesterday. While Apple has set the goal of using 100 percent renewable energy across its entire business, supply chain and product lifecycle by 2030, carbon emissions from electronics manufacturing are rising globally due to increased energy consumption, it said. Given that carbon emissions from its supply chain accounted for more than half of its total emissions last year, Greenpeace East Asia evaluated the green transition performance of Apple’s five largest final
Taiwan is to extend its visa-waiver program for Philippine passport holders for another year, starting on Aug. 1, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said on Friday. Lin made the announcement during a reception in Taipei marking the 127th anniversary of Philippine independence and the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the Manila Economic and Cultural Office (MECO) in Taiwan, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. The decision reflected Taiwan’s commitment to deepening exchanges with the Philippines, the statement cited Lin as saying, adding that it was a key partner under the New Southbound Policy launched in 2016. Lin also expressed hope
Temperatures in New Taipei City’s Sindian District (新店) climbed past 37°C yesterday, as the Central Weather Administration (CWA) issued heat alerts for 16 municipalities, warning the public of intense heat expected across Taiwan. The hottest location in Taiwan was in Sindian, where the mercury reached 37.5°C at about 2pm, according to CWA data. Taipei’s Shilin District (士林) recorded a temperature of 37.4°C at noon, Taitung County’s Jinfeng Township (金峰) at 12:50 pm logged a temperature of 37.4°C and Miaoli County’s Toufen Township (頭份) reached 36.7°C at 11:40am, the CWA said. The weather agency yesterday issued a yellow level information notice for Taipei, New
RSS