British pilot, Vietnam’s sickest COVID-19 patient, might not need lung transplant as health improves: doctors
Saturday, May 30, 2020, 10:43 GMT+7
A British pilot who is Vietnam’s most critically ill coronavirus disease (COVID-19) patient has exhibited health improvement and may not need a lung transplant, previously believed to be the only viable option to save his life, after all, doctors said Friday.
Top health leaders and experts in the fields of infection, respiration and intensive care discussed the man’s condition at a teleconference on Friday.
The 43-year-old Briton, a Vietnam Airlines pilot, was identified as the country’s COVID-19 ‘patient No. 91’ after his diagnosis in mid-March.
Doctors from Cho Ray Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City’s District 5, where the patient was recently transferred to after being announced free of the coronavirus, told the conference he had regained 40 percent of his lung function, up from 30 percent and 10 percent reported in the last two consultations.
If his lungs continue to improve, with 50 percent or more of their function recovered, he will have a chance to survive without a lung transplant, which was previously believed to be the only viable way to save his life.
According to footage provided by Cho Ray Hospital and seen by Tuoi Tre News, the British man is now able to make expressive responses when doctors talk to him.
Doctors talk to a British pilot, Vietnam’s COVID-19 patient No. 91, who is being treated in the intensive care unit at Cho Ray Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, in this video supplied by the infirmary.
The patient can now be spoon-fed by health workers, move his fingers, feet and lips, blink, and even shed tears.
However, doctors warned that the British man remains in quite a serious condition because he still depends largely on life support in the form of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO).
The experts agreed that transferring him to Cho Ray Hospital from the Ho Chi Minh City Hospital for Tropical Diseases last week was the right decision, given the patient’s complicated conditions.
Cho Ray is the largest general hospital in Ho Chi Minh City.
In the upcoming course of treatment, doctors will focus on treating his lung infections and gradually withdraw him from ECMO.
Prof. Dr. Ngo Quy Chau, a respiratory specialist and acting chairman of Bach Mai Hospital in Hanoi, suggested Cho Ray Hospital look into using new drugs used to treat fungal infections in the patient’s lungs, change the current drugs to parenteral ones, and design a nutrition plan towards improving his respiratory and diaphragm muscles.
 |
| Deputy Health Minister Nguyen Truong Son (third from right) presides a telemedicine consultation to discuss the condition and treatment of a British pilot who is Vietnam’s sickest coronavirus disease (COVID-19) patient, May 29, 2020. Photo: Thuy Anh / Tuoi Tre |
Deputy Health Minister Nguyen Truong Son agreed with the suggestions, adding that doctors should also carefully consider the patient’s renal and liver functions.
In addition, preparations for a possible lung transplant shall be continued.
Friday was the 71st day of the British pilot’s hospitalization.
He had been treated at the Hospital for Tropical Diseases in Ho Chi Minh City since mid-March until last week, when he was transferred to Cho Ray Hospital after testing negative for the novel coronavirus six times.
Vietnam’s tally of COVID-19 patients has climbed to 328 after one new case — a one-year-old baby returning from Russia — was reported on Saturday morning.
 |
| Top health leaders and experts discuss the condition and treatment of a British pilot who is Vietnam’s sickest coronavirus disease (COVID-19) patient at a telemedicine consultation, May 29, 2020. Photo: Thuy Anh / Tuoi Tre |
The child, residing in the northern province of Thanh Hoa, landed at Van Don International Airport in northern Quang Ninh Province on Vietnam Airlines flight VN0062 on May 13.
He had close contact with patient No. 314, a 62-year-old Vietnamese woman, on the same flight.
He was sent to a centralized quarantine facility in neighboring Hai Duong Province after his arrival and tested positive for the virus twice on Thursday and Friday.
He is being treated at the provincial Hospital for Tropical Diseases.
There have been 279 COVID-19 recoveries in Vietnam, with only 49 patients remaining in treatment.
No new infections in the community have been documented in the Southeast Asian country for 44 days as of Saturday morning.
Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!
