On Tuesday, the Da Nang General Hospital said that it has successfully saved the life of a patient with an acute myocardial infarction and severe mitral regurgitation at high risk for sudden death.

Three days after the operation, the patient made a good recovery.

Previously, the Da Nang General Hospital had received a male patient with congestive heart failure.  

The hospital's doctors said that medical record of the 49 year-old patient from Quang Ngai province do not show any illness, and he only experienced tiredness and chest pain a few days ago.

After being admitted to the Da Nang General Hospital, the patient required immediate resuscitation and urgent treatments because he was diagnosed with acute myocardial infarction, severe mitral regurgitation, and pulmonary edema.

Within 24 hours of admission to the hospital, the patient was still in a critical condition with poor pulmonary hemodynamics, requiring emergency surgical, life-saving intervention. 

The surgeons at the hospital performed successfully a combined valve replacement and coronary bypass surgery during 4 hours.

After the operation, the patient's heart rate was within the normal range but his lung was still in a very serious condition with severe hypoxia.

The patient was difficult to ventilate, and he required extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) support and dialysis treatment for several consecutive days.

According to Dr. Nguyen Minh Hai, Head of Cardiology department at the Da Nang General Hospital, myocardial infarction (MI) is usually the result of thrombosis in a coronary artery, triggered by fissuring or rupture of an atheromatous plaque. Platelets and fibrin are deposited on the damaged plaque resulting in the formation of a clot and the occlusion of the artery. Fatality from MI remains formidably high, with 50 per cent of patients who die after an acute coronary occlusion doing so within the first hour after the onset of symptoms. Death is commonly due to the dysrhythmia, ventricular fibrillation. Management of a patient with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) is a medical emergency.

Three days after the operation, ECMO helped the patient's lung recover, and he no longer needs ECMO support.

Currently, the patient is making a good recovery.

Reported by PHAN CHUNG - Translating by H.L