Condition of Hong Kong heart failure sufferer worsens days after appeal for new organ
Tang Kai-him undergoes emergency surgery to clear blood clots in his brain
The condition of a 10-year-old boy who is waiting for a new heart deteriorated further on Tuesday when he suffered bleeding on the right side of his brain.
Dr Timmy Au Wing-kuk, the hospital’s chief of cardiothoracic surgery, said the next 24 hours would be critical for Tang.
“If he starts to get worse [and has] more bleeding inside his brain, we may not be able to save him,” Au told the Post.
He explained that Tang required anticoagulant –so-called blood thinner – when he was on an artificial heart machine, but it would be easy for the patient to develop internal bleeding.
“Now that we have stopped all the blood thinner medicine, one problem is clot formation inside the pumps and the tubing. Those clots can cause obstruction to other organs.”
Au warned that Tang’s brain could bleed further and the boy could go into a deeper coma.