From March 22 to March 30, 2024, a team of experts from Children’s HeartLink (USA) visited Vietnam National Children’s Hospital to share their knowledge and techniques in diagnosing and treating pediatric cardiovascular diseases. On the morning of March 29, the hospital held a closing ceremony with the participation of Children’s HeartLink.
Children’s HeartLink is a non-profit organization with the aim of improving care for children with congenital heart disease in the world where they have limited access to specialized cardiovascular services. Since 2017, Children’s HeartLink has supported Vietnam National Children’s Hospital through various programs including professional exchange, consultation on complex cases, teaching new techniques in diagnosis, treatment, surgical intervention, postoperative care, and nursing. Notably, on March 22, Vietnam National Children’s Hospital and Children’s HeartLink successfully held the conference themed “National Database Project and Complex Congenital Heart Disease Update”, which attracted over 400 domestic and international delegates.
Representatives of Vietnam National Children’s Hospital working with the Children’s HeartLink team
On behalf of Vietnam National Children’s Hospital, Dr. Cao Viet Tung, Vice Director of Vietanam National Children’s Hospital, expressed deep gratitude to Children’s HeartLink for their support over the years. He also hoped that the cooperation between the two sides would continue to flourish, leading to more practical programs that enhance the quality of pediatric cardiology care in Vietnam.
Dr. Cao Viet Tung, Vice Director of Vietnam National Children’s Hospital say thanks to Children’s HeartLink
At the closing ceremony, the Children’s HeartLink experts proposed several methods for approaching cases, pre-surgical consultations, personalizing patient information for each treatment phase, and adding necessary equipment to achieve the best treatment outcomes. They also helped the hospital improve nursing quality related to postoperative care, patient handover procedures from the operating room to the recovery room, shift handovers, quick infusion pump changes, and infection prevention.
Professor Shunji Sano, the representative of Children’s HeartLink, was pleased to realize the significant progress from the doctors of Heart Center at Vietnam National Children’s Hospital
With a team of experienced doctors, Heart Center of Vietnam National Children’s Hospital has achieved many accomplishments in diagnosing, treating, and managing congenital heart disease. Annually, the center performs over 1,000 open-heart surgeries, 500 closed-heart surgeries, and 500 cardiovascular and electrophysiological interventions, providing life-saving treatments to thousands of Vietnamese children. The mortality rate for congenital heart and open surgeries is 1.65% (17 out of 1,088), comparable to advanced countries worldwide (data from the North American Heart Surgery Database – 2023), which is a remarkable achievement.
Every year, Children’s HeartLink experts visit Vietnam National Children’s Hospital to support the implementation of new techniques and professional teaching. This plays a crucial role in training high-quality human resources, especially young doctors at Heart Center and the hospital in general, thus enhancing the effectiveness of medical examinations and treatments, and saving many children with cardiovascular diseases.
