Ultrasound

Ultrasound Department. The Ultrasound Medicine Department of Guangzhou Women and Children’s Medical Center was established relatively early in China; in 2008, the Provincial Health Commission approved the establishment of a Prenatal Ultrasound Diagnosis Center. It is one of the earliest institutions in China to conduct prenatal ultrasound diagnosis, and is a national prenatal ultrasound diagnosis training base, Guangzhou Medical University ultrasound clinical research base and national standardized residency training base. It is also the leading institution of the Pediatric Ultrasound Alliance in Central and Southern China. Our department provides consultations for difficult and complex cases from more than 300 hospitals in cities and districts across the province and Central and Southern China, as well as Xinjiang, Henan, Hunan, Guangxi, Jiangxi, Guizhou, Yunnan and Hainan, and conducts more than 2,000 consultations for patients referred from other hospitals every year. We undertake health screening for women and children in Central and Southern China and ultrasound diagnosis of diseases. Our diagnostic techniques are advanced and standardized, with diverse examination services. The obstetric, gynecologic and pediatric ultrasound diagnosis of our hospital is at the leading level in the city. Staff have accumulated extensive experience in diagnosing obstetric, gynecologic and pediatric diseases and possess high-level, unique expertise in ultrasound diagnosis of difficult diseases in these fields, earning wide praise from patients. The department currently has 71 physicians, including 6 chief physicians, 22 associate chief physicians, 24 attending physicians and 19 resident physicians. Five have doctoral degrees and 58 have master’s degrees, including 4 master’s supervisors, forming a sound professional hierarchy. Following the principle of comprehensive professional development with clear priorities, the department has five subspecialty groups: gynecology, obstetrics, pediatrics, superficial organs and cardiac ultrasound. As the hospital has developed, the department is now distributed across four campuses, each staffed by the relevant subspecialty teams: the Zhujiang New Town Campus focuses on high-end medical care for complex and rare diseases; the Children’s Campus mainly diagnoses common and frequently occurring pediatric diseases; the Women and Infants Campus mainly treats common superficial thyroid and breast, obstetric and gynecologic diseases; and the Zengcheng and Nansha campuses focus on specialty services covering all subspecialties. As one of the standardized residency training bases in ultrasound, our trainees complete their programs on schedule and to the required quality and pass the national standardized residency examination. As a prenatal diagnosis training base, we train approximately 60 people per year. The department has successfully held the Systematic Ultrasound Diagnosis of Congenital Heart Disease (from Fetus to Postoperative Care) and Fetal Echocardiography Theory and Practice Course for 11 consecutive years, as well as the Pediatric Emergency Ultrasound Diagnosis Course for 2 consecutive years, receiving high praise from trainees. Specialized ultrasound services: 1. Real-time three-dimensional hysterosalpingography: contrast agent is injected through a catheter into the uterine cavity and fallopian tubes; real-time three-dimensional imaging displays their shape and position, detects lesions and malformations, and assesses tubal patency. Compared with traditional X-ray oil-based contrast imaging, it is simple, uses microbubbles with an extremely low allergy rate, and is safe, noninvasive, radiation-free, highly reproducible and reliable; patients can prepare for pregnancy in the month following examination. 2. Intravenous gynecologic contrast-enhanced ultrasound: contrast agent is injected into a body cavity or blood vessel to enhance ultrasound-scattered echoes and markedly improve the resolution, sensitivity and specificity of ultrasound diagnosis. 3. Pelvic-floor ultrasound is the first-choice imaging method for diagnosing pelvic-floor dysfunction. It is real-time, simple and highly accurate, can detect morphological changes in pelvic-floor structures before symptoms appear, and enables early diagnosis. It is mainly used to diagnose patients with urinary incontinence and organ prolapse. 4. Targeted examination of fetal structural abnormalities: if an external hospital or previous examination has identified an abnormal fetal structure, targeted re-examination can be performed. We have established complete diagnostic and treatment SOPs for fetal cleft lip and palate, diaphragmatic hernia, congenital pulmonary airway malformation, gastrointestinal malformations, congenital biliary dilatation, cystic adnexal masses, urinary-system malformations, vascular malformations including hemangioma and lymphangioma, cloacal malformations, sacrococcygeal teratoma and clubfoot, enabling integrated prenatal and postnatal management. 5. Integrated prenatal and postnatal diagnosis of complex congenital heart disease: fetal echocardiography can be performed for difficult and complex heart disease, followed by pediatric and even adult echocardiography after birth, allowing comprehensive and professional dynamic follow-up of fetal heart disease. Conditions include single ventricle, common arterial trunk (persistent truncus arteriosus), hypoplastic left heart syndrome, pulmonary atresia, tricuspid atresia, total anomalous pulmonary venous return, complete transposition of the great arteries, double-outlet right ventricle, Ebstein anomaly, interrupted aortic arch, coarctation of the aorta, aortic valve stenosis and tetralogy of Fallot. 6. Specialized pediatric ultrasound examinations: pediatric gastrointestinal contrast-enhanced ultrasound, vascular ultrasound for portal-vein cavernous transformation surgery (Rex procedure), liver elastography, tumor contrast-enhanced ultrasound, lung and diaphragm ultrasound and joint ultrasound for hemophilia are all well established.