Vietnamese Kidney Cancer Patient Visiting Seoul St. Mary's Hospital via Remote Consultation... Discharged Healthy After Surgery

'Renowned Kidney Cancer Specialist' Professor Hong Seong-hoo Performs Surgery

Professor Hong Seong-hoo of the Department of Urology at Seoul St. Mary's Hospital took a commemorative photo with Vietnamese patient Le Jang-ban, who had renal cancer accompanied by inferior vena cava thrombosis, before his discharge.
[Photo by Seoul St. Mary's Hospital]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Gwan-joo] A Vietnamese patient with kidney cancer who came to Korea through a remote medical consultation system successfully underwent surgery and regained health.

Seoul St. Mary's Hospital announced on the 25th that Vietnamese patient Giang Van Le (63) was successfully operated on by Professor Hong Sung-hoo of the Department of Urology and was discharged in good health on the 21st.

Two years ago, Giang Van Le was diagnosed in Vietnam with a tumor in the kidney that was not cancerous and did not receive any special treatment. However, a recent re-examination raised suspicion of kidney cancer. His family searched for kidney cancer surgeons in several countries and eventually came to Seoul St. Mary's Hospital.

Professor Hong and Giang Van Le met in December last year through Seoul St. Mary's Hospital's remote medical consultation system, "VOIDOC." After reviewing CT and MRI results via remote consultation, Professor Hong suspected kidney cancer accompanied by inferior vena cava thrombosis. Judging that surgical treatment was urgent, Giang Van Le entered Korea on the 16th and was admitted to Seoul St. Mary's Hospital.

Kidney cancer accompanied by inferior vena cava thrombosis accounts for about 4-10% of all kidney cancers, but if surgery to remove the tumor and thrombus is not performed, the one-year survival rate is less than 30%, posing a life-threatening risk. If the inferior vena cava thrombectomy and radical nephrectomy are successfully performed, the five-year survival rate increases to over 50%, making surgery essential. The surgery is also known to be very challenging.

Under Professor Hong's leadership, Giang Van Le underwent robot-assisted radical nephrectomy and inferior vena cava thrombectomy. He began eating and walking the day after surgery and recovered smoothly, being discharged in good health four days after the operation.

Professor Hong said, "I remember when I first performed laparoscopic surgery for kidney cancer with inferior vena cava thrombosis in Korea in 2016, I spent several weeks worrying about how to safely and successfully perform the surgery without proper sleep." He added, "Since then, I have researched safer and more effective methods, and recently, by using vascular balloons, we have been able to reduce surgical risks and perform quick and effective surgeries." He continued, "It is very rewarding and gratifying to be able to give hope not only to domestic patients but also to overseas patients."

Seoul St. Mary's Hospital International Medical Center has been actively conducting remote medical consultations for overseas patients worldwide since November last year. Through the remote medical consultation program VOIDOC, Seoul St. Mary's Hospital is expanding remote consultations to patients from the UK, Russia, Kazakhstan, Vietnam, and other countries.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.