Kidney Diseases Department (including Blood Purification Center)

The Nephrology Department was established in October 1984 and is a renowned nephrology specialty department in China. The department currently has 55 inpatient beds, approximately 70,000 specialty outpatient visits annually, and more than 110 units of various blood purification equipment at its Blood Purification Center, as well as a Peritoneal Dialysis Center, Kidney Intensive Care Unit (KICU), renal biopsy and renal pathology diagnostic laboratory, etc.; its specialty services are comprehensive and its instruments and equipment are advanced.

Personnel:

Department Director Li Wenge is a Chief Physician, Professor, doctoral supervisor, and renowned nephrology expert in China. Li Wenge also serves as Deputy Chair of the Nephrology Branch of the Chinese Medical Association, Chair of the Specialized Committee of Urology and Blood Purification of the Chinese Medical Education Association, Standing Committee Member of the Nephrologists Branch of the Chinese Medical Doctor Association, Deputy Chair of the Beijing Society of Nephrology of the Beijing Medical Association, Chair of the Beijing Society of Blood Purification of the Beijing Medical Association, Deputy Chair of the Nephrology Specialized Committee of the Beijing Association of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, among other positions.

The department currently has 6 Chief Physicians, 6 Associate Chief Physicians, and 7 Attending Physicians. Its professional teams are strong across specialties and can undertake the clinical diagnosis and treatment of all types of acute and chronic kidney diseases, diabetic nephropathy, hypertensive renal injury, and other diseases, as well as the rescue and treatment of critically ill patients with kidney disease.

Medical specialties:

I. Diagnosis and treatment of various chronic glomerulonephritides

The department is a renowned specialty in China for the diagnosis and treatment of chronic nephritis. More than 50,000 patient visits for chronic nephritis from across the country are diagnosed and treated each year. Multiple methods are used for renal biopsy, and Professor Zou Wanzhong, a nationally authoritative pathology expert, is engaged to oversee the pathological diagnosis of renal biopsies, with a focus on diagnostic accuracy. The department has a chronic nephritis diagnosis and treatment team with extensive clinical experience and treatment efficacy in IgA nephropathy, membranous nephropathy, hepatitis B virus-associated nephritis, lupus nephritis, small-vessel vasculitis, and other conditions.

II. Diagnosis and treatment of diabetic nephropathy and hypertensive renal injury

The department has established an integrated diagnosis and treatment team for diabetic nephropathy and hypertensive renal injury, as well as a multidisciplinary consultation center. Patients treated at the center can receive integrated diagnosis and treatment from experts in nephrology, cardiology, endocrinology, neurology, nutrition, and other disciplines, improving treatment outcomes for kidney disease and preventing and treating complications.

III. A domestically leading blood purification center

This is one of the large blood purification centers established relatively early in China. It has more than 110 advanced blood purification devices, and its medical and nursing standards are at the domestic leading level. More than 150 patients have received hemodialysis for over 10 years. The center can provide various blood purification treatments, including hemofiltration, hemodiafiltration, and hemoperfusion. For secondary hyperparathyroidism, a complication of long-term dialysis, it has a dedicated disease clinic and can provide multiple treatment methods, including medication, ultrasound-guided radiofrequency ablation, and surgery; its level is at the domestic leading standard.

IV. Ability to perform various complex vascular access surgeries

The department has an experienced vascular access physician team and works closely with the hospital’s vascular surgery department to complete a large number of complex hemodialysis access procedures each year, including autologous arteriovenous fistulas, prosthetic vascular arteriovenous fistulas, and long-term hemodialysis catheters. It has particular specialty-leading advantages in the surgical and interventional treatment of complex and difficult vascular access, maintaining the patency of dialysis patients’ “lifeline.”

V. A domestically leading critical renal failure rescue and treatment center (KICU)

The department took the lead in China in establishing a critical renal failure rescue and treatment ward (KICU). It has dedicated KICU physicians and a CRRT nursing team, 15 bedside blood purification machines, and a monthly treatment volume of more than 300 patient visits. It has strong capabilities in continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT), bedside dialysis, plasma exchange, immunoadsorption, leukocyte adsorption, bilirubin adsorption, and other treatments. These treatments are widely used for the rescue and treatment of critical kidney diseases, autoimmune diseases, neurological diseases, hematological diseases, and other conditions. It is one of the more experienced professional teams in bedside blood purification treatment in China.

VI. A high-level peritoneal dialysis center

The department is one of the earlier institutions in China to provide peritoneal dialysis. It has specialist physicians for peritoneal dialysis catheter placement and a professional peritoneal dialysis medical and nursing management team. There are currently nearly 80 patients receiving long-term peritoneal dialysis. Standardized training for peritoneal dialysis patients, as well as assessment, prevention, and treatment of dialysis adequacy and complications, are carried out regularly. The infection and dropout rates among long-term peritoneal dialysis patients are at an advanced level in China.

VII. Integrated traditional Chinese and Western medicine treatment of chronic kidney disease

The department has a team for integrated traditional Chinese and Western medicine treatment of chronic kidney disease, including 3 experts with extensive clinical experience in integrated diagnosis and treatment. Traditional Chinese medicine is combined with modern Western medicine, with the strengths of each being utilized. Individualized integrated treatment is provided according to the etiology, pathology, stage, traditional Chinese medicine syndrome type, and comorbidities of chronic kidney disease.

Specialty clinics:

1. Specialty Nutrition Clinic for Chronic Renal Failure: Nutrition management and dietary guidance for patients with chronic renal failure.

2. Specialty Clinic for Renal Bone Disease: Diagnosis and treatment of chronic kidney disease complicated by bone disease; drug treatment of secondary hyperparathyroidism; and surgical or minimally invasive treatment in collaboration with the departments of surgery and ultrasound intervention.

3. Heart–Brain–Diabetes–Kidney Clinic: Provides multidisciplinary integrated diagnosis and treatment of diabetic nephropathy.

Research:

Over the past more than 10 years, the department has undertaken and participated in national key research projects, National Natural Science Foundation projects, and more than 30 projects of the Ministry of Health, the National Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, and universities and other institutions. These have mainly included research projects on the pathogenesis and clinical treatment of chronic nephritis, the mechanisms of diabetic nephropathy and multidisciplinary collaborative diagnosis and treatment, follow-up studies of secondary hyperparathyroidism in maintenance hemodialysis, and other scientific research projects.

Teaching:

The department is a postdoctoral mobile station in nephrology. It is a discipline responsible for recruiting and training master’s and doctoral students in nephrology at Peking University Health Science Center, Peking Union Medical College, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, and Capital Medical University, and undertakes the teaching of residents in Beijing’s standardized training program and residents in integrated traditional Chinese and Western medicine.

Department location:

The main department outpatient clinic is located on the 2nd floor of Building B; the North Area outpatient clinic is located on the 3rd floor of Building A.

The main department ward is located on the 2nd floor of Building J; the North Area ward is located on the 4th–5th floors of Building B.

The main Blood Purification Center is located on the 2nd floor of Building E; the North Area Hemodialysis Unit is located on the 4th floor of Building B.

Contact numbers:

Outpatient clinic: 010-84205565

Ward: 010-84206118

Nurses’ station: 010-84206174