"Through this letter, I wish to express my deepest gratitude to everyone who supported me during the past nine months of treatment... Whether I was being admitted, transferred, or lying in a hospital bed fighting for my life, it was your care that gave me the strength to hold on."
These words come from Lobu, a young Tibetan man whose journey from despair to recovery has become a powerful story of medical courage and human resilience.
Lobu graduated from university with hopes of serving his hometown in Tibet. Yet for nearly a decade, he was plagued by hepatic echinococcosis—a parasitic disease that led him through multiple major surgeries. Despite his youth, his body bore the scars of repeated operations. In a devastating recurrence, the parasitic lesion invaded not only his liver but also the inferior vena cava and extended into the right atrium of the heart—a condition deemed inoperable by several top medical centers across the country.
A Turning Point from the Roof of the World
Just when Lobu had lost hope, fate intervened. Dr. Tang Rui, a surgeon from Beijing Tsinghua Changgung Hospital stationed in Tibet through a national medical aid program, learned of his case. After careful assessment, Dr. Tang coordinated Lobu’s transfer to Beijing, where a multidisciplinary team began planning for what many considered a miracle.
Upon admission, the challenges became even clearer. In addition to the echinococcal lesion, Lobu suffered from liver failure, severe jaundice, hypoalbuminemia, hyperammonemia, coagulopathy, and electrolyte imbalances. A comprehensive discussion among experts from hepatobiliary surgery, transplant surgery, cardiothoracic surgery, anesthesia, cardiology, and the ICU led to a bold plan.
A Marathon Surgery: Heart, Liver, and Hope
The proposed operation was unprecedented in its complexity: abdominal resection of parasitic lesions involving both the heart and liver, with thoracotomy, followed by a split-liver transplant—all performed in a critically ill patient weighing less than 50 kg.
During surgery, led by Dr. Lu Qian, Executive Director of the Hepatobiliary Center, the team discovered the parasitic mass was too deep to access through the abdomen alone. Cardiac surgeon Dr. Shen Dongyan quickly opened the chest to expose the heart. After thorough evaluation, the team made a bold decision: to proceed with resection of the right atrium and liver invaded by the parasite—without cardiopulmonary bypass and with the heart still beating.
As the operation entered the “anhepatic phase,” transplant expert Prof. Dong Jiahong and Dr. Shen collaborated seamlessly to reconstruct the atrium and vena cava, followed by precise vascular anastomosis of the split-liver graft, adapted to fit Lobu’s narrow abdominal cavity. The new liver and heart repair began functioning in tandem. After more than 20 hours in the operating room, the tension finally eased.
Throughout this marathon procedure, Drs. Zhang Huan and Gao Zhifeng from anesthesiology maintained hemodynamic stability with precision and vigilance, ensuring a safe course through the most critical stages.
Medicine with Precision—and Heart
Postoperative care in the Liver ICU was equally meticulous. Lobu was successfully extubated and gradually regained heart and liver function. Weeks later, dressed in traditional Tibetan attire, he returned to Tsinghua Changgung Hospital, offering ceremonial khatas —white silk scarves of blessing—to express his heartfelt thanks to the entire team.
He said, “I was ready to give up on life. But your hands, your wisdom, and your belief in me brought me back. I now know what a second chance feels like.”
This case not only showcases the technical excellence and cross-disciplinary strength of Tsinghua Changgung Hospital, but also highlights the mission of Tsinghua Medicine: to integrate humanistic care with cutting-edge innovation, and to create future-ready medical systems in the era of AI and precision medicine.
From：Tsinghua Medicine