Cardiology

The Department of Cardiology was established in the 1990s and is responsible for the diagnosis and treatment of various adult cardiovascular diseases in this city and parts of the surrounding provinces and cities. The main diseases diagnosed and treated include coronary heart disease, hypertension, congenital heart disease, cardiomyopathy, rheumatic heart disease, arrhythmia, heart failure, and renovascular diseases. The department has always upheld the hospital motto, “Compassionate care, excellence in medicine, determination and integrity in action.” Through the joint efforts of the hospital leadership, all physicians, and nursing staff, it has developed rapidly. After years of effort, the Department of Cardiology has initially established a rational professional talent structure. It has 5 chief physicians, 2 deputy chief physicians, and 6 attending physicians, including 3 doctors with doctoral degrees. The department currently has 52 beds, including 6 coronary care unit (CCU) beds. It has 2 cardiac catheterization laboratories equipped with internationally advanced multi-channel electrophysiological diagnostic systems, radiofrequency ablation equipment, an FFR testing device, intravascular ultrasound, as well as emergency equipment such as IABP and noninvasive ventilators. It also has technical facilities including cardiac color Doppler ultrasound, transesophageal echocardiography, exercise treadmill electrocardiography, ambulatory blood pressure monitoring, a 12-lead ambulatory electrocardiography system, and transesophageal pacing electrophysiological examinations.

In recent years, with the continuous application of new technologies and therapies in clinical practice, the success rate of cardiovascular disease treatment has increased substantially. Following the evidence-based medicine model, clinical practice is guided by the results of various clinical trials, significantly improving the treatment outcomes of heart failure, myocardial infarction, hypertension, arrhythmia, and other diseases, and markedly increasing the resuscitation success rate for critically ill patients. In recent years, cardiovascular interventional technology has also made substantial progress. The department can now perform most of the advanced cardiovascular interventional diagnostic and therapeutic procedures available internationally, and its annual procedure volume has increased steadily for many consecutive years. Routinely performed interventional procedures include right heart catheterization, coronary angiography, percutaneous coronary balloon angioplasty and stent implantation, drug-coated balloon procedures, rotational atherectomy for coronary plaques, intra-aortic balloon counterpulsation, chemical ablation for hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, intravascular ultrasound, measurement of coronary fractional flow reserve (FFR), coronary thrombus aspiration, pacemaker implantation, implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) implantation, cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT), catheter-based radiofrequency (cryo-)ablation for various arrhythmias (including atrial fibrillation), left atrial appendage occlusion, interventional treatment of congenital heart disease, transcatheter aortic valve replacement, renal artery stent implantation, and others. In 2024, a total of 2,016 interventional procedures of various types were performed.

The department’s current technical strengths include: 1. Interventional diagnosis and treatment of coronary heart disease: In recent years, while ensuring procedural safety and success rates, our department has focused on developing transradial coronary intervention, substantially reducing patients’ discomfort and hospitalization time. On this basis, it has developed a series of innovations and distinctive techniques, and has reached an advanced level in this city in the treatment of transradial bifurcation lesions, left main coronary artery disease, and chronic total occlusion lesions. The rescue capabilities for acute myocardial infarction have improved year by year. Working closely with the Department of Emergency Medicine, we performed 150 emergency coronary interventional procedures over the past 5 years. We also performed PCI supported by ECMO after cardiopulmonary resuscitation in 2 cases, with significant results. The average door-to-balloon (D-to-B) time for acute myocardial infarction was reduced from 119 minutes 5 years ago to 109 minutes. 2. Interventional treatment of arrhythmias: The department routinely performs radiofrequency (cryo-)ablation for paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia, paroxysmal atrial tachycardia, idiopathic ventricular tachycardia, persistent atrial flutter, frequent symptomatic severe premature ventricular contractions, and premature atrial contractions. Over the past 10 years, with the rise of radiofrequency ablation treatment for atrial fibrillation, our department has used a three-dimensional navigation system to successfully complete more than 300 atrial fibrillation radiofrequency ablation procedures, with a relatively high success rate. In 2016, it successfully initiated radiofrequency ablation combined with left atrial appendage occlusion for the treatment of atrial fibrillation, enabling the department to reach an advanced level within the province in atrial fibrillation treatment. In 2022, the Chinese Medical Association awarded it the title of National Standardized Atrial Fibrillation Center Demonstration Center. We perform various pacemaker implantations (dual-chamber and single-chamber pacemakers) to treat sick sinus syndrome, atrioventricular block, and other conditions. At the same time, cardiac resynchronization therapy for heart failure is also routinely performed in our department. Over the past 10 years, we have been among the first in the province to apply left bundle branch area pacing and leadless pacing clinically, achieving good results. 3. Interventional treatment of peripheral vascular disease: We were among the first in the province to perform transradial renal artery stent implantation and subclavian artery stent implantation. 4. We actively leverage the distinctive strengths of integrated traditional Chinese and Western medicine and have certain advantages in the integrated treatment of coronary heart disease, hyperlipidemia, cardiac neurosis, and other diseases.

In the field of research, over the past 5 years the department has undertaken or participated in 1 national-level research project, 3 provincial- or ministerial-level projects, and more than 10 municipal-level projects. During the past 5 years, it has published more than 10 cardiovascular-related papers in domestic core journals or SCI-indexed journals. It has undertaken 5 GCP projects involving Western medicines and Chinese patent medicines. In clinical teaching, our department passed the review in 2012 and became one of the first standardized training bases for traditional Chinese medicine residents in Hangzhou. The department has sent physicians to study at Stanford University Medical Center in the United States, University Medical Center Göttingen in Germany, Krefeld Hospital in Germany, and other institutions. It has initially established a comprehensive cardiovascular disease treatment system integrating training, diagnosis and treatment, and scientific research.