Provincial cardiac surgeon to receive certificate of merit

Doctor Ngo Duc De and surgery patient Le Thi Thuy Liem

A surgeon from the southern province of Dong Nai will receive a certificate of merit from Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung for his outstanding successes in conducting heart surgery.

Doctor Ngo Duc De, head of the General Surgical Ward of Dong Nai Hospital, saved the life of a 55-year-old woman whose heart was seriously damaged, in what was seen as an incredible success for a provincial hospital.

Doctor De said he was proud to receive the State honour.

"But there are a lot more outstanding doctors who successfully conducted bone marrow or liver transplants, which are more difficult to perform," said De.

Surgery patient Le Thi Thuy Liem, from Vinh Phuc Province, damaged her heart when a wall collapsed onto her while she was visiting her relatives last month in Di An Commune, Thuan An District, Dong Nai Province.

"Liem was hospitalised in a critical condition, suffering suffocation and low blood pressure but without any cuts on the outside of her body," said De.

Ultrasound tests confirmed that the patient’s left ventricle had an 8cm-long crack resulting in blood flooding the pleura.

Doctor Huynh Minh Hoang, deputy director of the provincial Health Department, said De had to carry out an operation that was very complicated, even for doctors at major hospitals.

"Critical conditions like that usually lead to fatality," said Hoang.

De said he had little hope of success when he began surgery.

"There was virtually no hope of saving the patient," he said.

But Liem gradually recovered and left hospital with a clean bill of health on Monday.

It was the tenth case of heart surgery performed by the 53-year-old surgeon during the last two years. All of them were successful.

"Before, critical emergency cases like this one used to be forwarded to Cho Ray Hospital in HCM City," said Hoang.

"But doctor De had done an incredible job at the provincial hospital."

(Source: VNS)