Landmarks in Clinical Solid Organ Transplantation in Vietnam

Renal transplantation was first performed in Vietnam in 1992. Up to the end of 2010, there have been 400 kidney and 16 liver transplantations from related and unrelated living donors. From 8 brain-dead donors between 2008 and 2010, we performed 15 kidney, 1 liver, and 1 heart transplantation. Few people agree to donate their own or their relatives' after death, mainly owing to the traditional belief of the Vietnamese that “as a man lives, so shall he die.” The demand for organs for transplantation therefore exceeds the organ availability. This article sought to present some achievements and challenges in the field of solid organ transplantation in Vietnam as well as the necessary measures to develop this young promising specialty.