Doctors at Cho Ray Hospital are using a thymus-taking surgical robot to treat myasthenia gravis for patient Phan Thi My N. (34 years old, from Vinh Long) - Photo: PV

On the afternoon of July 13, Associate Professor Dr. Vu Huu Vinh - Head of Department of Thoracic Surgery, Cho Ray Hospital said that the hospital has just successfully treated a case of myasthenia gravis that existed in the thymus with a robot. This is the first case of myasthenia gravis in Vietnam to be treated with a robot. "Currently the patient is awake, completely stable and can be discharged in the next few days", Dr. Vinh said.

According to Dr. Vinh, about 2 years ago, patient Phan Thi My N. (34 years old, from Vinh Long) was transferred to Cho Ray Hospital in a state of eyelid collapse, shoulder muscle weakness, difficulty breathing. .. After performing subclinical techniques, doctors discovered that patient N. with myasthenia II A existed in the thymus. The patient has been given mechanical ventilation and medical treatment for the disease for nearly 2 years. However, in order to remove the point of the disease, according to Dr. Vinh, the thymus must be removed, if the thymus is removed, it will be thoroughly treated.

Previously, open surgery or laparoscopic surgery, only cut about 80% to 90%, even preterm surgeons only took 60% to 70% of the thymus, so patients only reduced, not resolved. to get this disease.

“To clean the patient's thymus gland using only robots. With the robot's flexibility the very deep nooks and crannies of the thymus will be removed. In the surgery of patient N. we were very surprised, when the entire thymus was removed, ”Dr. Vinh shared and affirmed that currently only robotic methods can completely handle this myasthenia gravis. For myasthenia gravis, robot surgery is number 1 and only robot surgery can handle it completely.

According to Dr. Nguyen Viet Anh Quang - Department of Thoracic Surgery, Cho Ray Hospital in the past, most cases of myasthenia gravis were at a young age, in which women were 3 times higher than men. However, recently this disease has appeared in older people, from 40 to 50 years old, even 60 years old who still have myasthenia gravis.

There are currently no studies to show that this myasthenia gravis is related to environmental factors or genetics. This is a self-acquired disease.

Dr Quang also said that the reason the patient has myasthenia gravis is because the neurotransmitters are blocked. When suffering from this disease, the patient has an eyelid collapse and will gradually increase, accordingly, the muscles in the shoulder and arm area are weakened, brain movement disturbances, more severe than breathing cannot. Because at this time the muscles in the chest such as respiratory muscle, diaphragm, intercostal muscle ... cannot work, so the patient cannot breathe, must be ventilated leading to the risk of death.