The Nhi Dong 1 Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City is working with the city’sPaediatric Cardiology and Congenital Heart Disease Society and severallower-level hospitals to establish a network for treatment andmanagement of congenital heart diseases across southern Vietnam.

Vu Minh Phuc, head of the hospital’s Cardiovascular Department, revealed the information on July 7.

According to the doctor, the hospital has provided treatment andsurgeries for 3,115 infants with congenital heart defects, including 645cases in serious conditions and 125 newborns.

Thelightest infant who has undergone open-heart surgery at the hospitalweighed only 2 kilogrammes while the smallest child receivingclosed-heart procedure was just 1.2 kilogrammes in weight, Phuc said.

The fatality rate after heart surgery among child patients fell from7.7 percent in 2004 to only 1.1 percent last year, he noted, adding thatsome 1,300 children are still on the waiting list for cardiovascularsurgery due to the lack of facilities and personnel.

The Nhi Dong 1 Hospital believed that a network for congenital heartdefect care in the south is the key solution to reduce waiting times.

Accordingly, local hospitals are responsible for detection of heartdefect and post-operation care while centrally-run medical establishmentwill perform the surgeries.

A number of southerncities and provinces have joined the network to date, including Can Tho,Kien Giang, Dong Nai and An Giang.

The Nhi Dong 1Hospital performed the first closed-heart operation on an infant in 2004and the first open-heart surgery three years later.

It has been providing medical training and technique transfer on cardiac care for many southern local hospitals.-VNA