Rheumatology and Immunology
Since Dalian Medical University resumed operations around 1980, rheumatic and immunologic diseases have existed as an independent specialty within internal medicine. At the time the department was established, there were only a little over 10 beds for patients with rheumatic and immunologic diseases. In 2010, it was expanded into an independent ward with nearly 40 beds. Patients with rheumatic and immunologic diseases can be admitted simultaneously in both Division II and Division III of the First Affiliated Hospital of Dalian Medical University. All experts treating rheumatic and immunologic diseases have extensive clinical experience and, especially in dealing with difficult and severely ill patients, distinctive insights and management approaches; they have successfully saved many patients with severe multisystem involvement caused by diseases such as systemic lupus erythematosus. Over the past nearly 40 years, they have undertaken many explorations and trials in the treatment of rheumatic and immunologic diseases: standardized immunosuppressive treatment; in 2000, they attempted autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation to treat severe systemic lupus erythematosus, and this case was the first such case in the Northeast region; clinical research on the use of biologic agents to treat rheumatic and immunologic diseases, among others. At the same time, the department trains master's and doctoral students, and three international students in this specialty have already graduated.
The department actively conducts research, including investigations into the effects of leptin on the pathogenesis of rheumatic and immunologic diseases and studies of the mechanisms of glucocorticoid resistance. In recent years, it has received funding for municipal-, provincial-, and national-level research projects and has published numerous papers in the Zhonghua journal series and SCI-indexed papers. Therefore, the Rheumatology and Immunology Department of our hospital is a specialized discipline of a certain scale that integrates medical care, education, and research.