45 years living with a bomb fragment in the heart

Nearly half a century ago, Mrs. Tam was hit in the heart by a piece of bomb that doctors could not remove because it was life-threatening.

The patient is being treated at the University of Medicine and Pharmacy Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City. Photo: NP.

The female doctor is now 57 years old and lives in Go Vap district, Ho Chi Minh City. "At that time, my mother and a neighbor were injured, of which I was the most seriously injured with many bomb fragments embedded in her stomach and chest," Ms. Tam recalled. Ms. Tam was saved by a Korean doctor working at Cho Ray Hospital. However, at that time, medical technology was not yet developed, so the surgical team only removed the bomb fragments embedded in her stomach and chest. As for a bomb fragment embedded in her heart, the doctors did not dare to take the risk of removing it for fear of endangering the patient's life.

Ms. Tam said that for the past 45 years, she has not had any problems related to her heart health. The woman is married and has two healthy children. Recently, she felt tired when she exerted herself and often had palpitations. At the University of Medicine and Pharmacy Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City, ultrasound results showed that her heart had a leaky tricuspid valve and some ligaments were torn, her right heart was enlarged, and she was advised to have valve repair surgery. The results of the subsequent X-ray showed that in the right atrium of Ms. Tam's heart, there was a piece of radiopaque foreign body.

Dr. Nguyen Hoang Dinh, Head of the Cardiovascular Surgery Department, decided to perform endoscopic heart surgery to repair the tricuspid valve and remove the foreign object. The surgery lasted 3.5 hours, and it took the doctors 20 minutes to find and remove the 12x4 mm bomb fragment embedded in the right atrium, close to the path of the right coronary artery.

Dr. Dinh shared: “This is a very rare case, the foreign object does not cause much damage to the heart. If it is only a few millimeters off, the foreign object will damage the right coronary artery and threaten the patient's life.” After removing the foreign object, the doctors will repair the tricuspid valve and regenerate the damaged area. The patient recovers quickly, the valve leaflets close tightly and function well.

According to VNE