Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery Department

| Department Overview |--------------

The Department of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery of Huashan Hospital Affiliated to Fudan University was founded in 1946 by Dr. Wu Xueyu, incorporated into the Affiliated Eye, Ear, Nose and Throat Hospital of Shanghai First Medical College in 1952, and rebuilt under the leadership of Dr. Zhou Shiheng in 1975. Through the unremitting efforts and promotion of successive department directors (Zhou Shiheng, Tan Dechang, Dong Renhe, Zhao Xia, Sun Guangbin, and Yuan Yasheng), and after the continuous endeavors and innovation of several generations of senior Huashan physicians, the department has carried out a large amount of highly effective work in every subspecialty of otolaryngology.

Currently, the department is based at the Main Hospital, Hongqiao, Pudong, and Baoshan campuses, developing collaboratively across these 4 campuses to provide high-quality medical services to the vast number of patients. The department has outpatient clinics, wards, dedicated operating rooms, audiology rooms, endoscopic examination rooms, vestibular function examination rooms, and other facilities, and is equipped with advanced diagnostic and treatment equipment such as CO2 lasers, low-temperature plasma systems, high-definition endoscopes, and high-definition microscopes.

Clinically, the department has made breakthrough progress in the diagnosis and treatment of lateral skull-base diseases and is capable of performing complex and highly difficult lateral skull-base surgery. In addition, the department has long been committed to the minimally invasive treatment of pharyngolaryngeal voice disorders, reaching advanced levels both domestically and internationally, and has successively received many honors, including the Shanghai Science and Technology Progress Award and the Huaxia Medical Science and Technology Award. At the same time, the department has long carried out minimally invasive and traditional treatment of head and neck tumors, minimally invasive endoscopic surgery, otologic microsurgery, and the diagnosis and treatment of hearing loss and vertigo.

In research, the department has successively obtained 10 grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China, 4 key and special funds from the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Science and Technology, and multiple funds from the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Science and Technology, the Education Commission, and the Natural Science Foundation, among others. It also participated in completing 1 project funded by the National 863 Program, and received 1 second prize and 2 third prizes for provincial- and ministerial-level scientific and technological achievements. More than 120 articles have been published in various domestic and international journals, of which more than 50 have been indexed in SCI journals.

As the Department of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery of a large comprehensive teaching hospital with an outstanding reputation, it has unique advantages in the clinical diagnosis and treatment and research of systemic diseases and otolaryngology–head and neck surgery.

| Subspecialty Features |--------------

【Otoneurology and Lateral Skull-Base Tumor Subspecialty】

The greatest feature of this subspecialty is its pursuit of functional surgery for lateral skull-base tumors. Whether the facial nerve injury involves the intracranial or extracranial segment, the team makes every effort to perform repair and reconstruction. For malignant tumors of the temporal bone and various tumors in the jugular foramen region, especially paragangliomas, the team can also precisely protect the lower cranial nerves during surgery, or perform auditory and facial nerve functional reconstruction after surgery.

【Otologic Microsurgery Subspecialty】

For hearing loss caused by various types of chronic otitis media, the team performs tympanoplasty and hearing reconstruction surgery using artificial ossicles. For vertigo related to Ménière’s disease, the team performs endolymphatic sac decompression, semicircular canal occlusion, and other diagnostic and treatment procedures. It also performs artificial stapes surgery to treat otosclerosis, as well as facial nerve decompression to treat facial paralysis. In recent years, the team has collaborated with the Department of Neurosurgery and achieved major breakthroughs in the surgical treatment of acoustic neuromas, tumors in the jugular foramen region, facial nerve diseases, and junctional tumors of the lateral skull base.

【Pharyngolaryngeal Voice Disorder Subspecialty】

For various types of hoarseness, the team is currently able to perform various laryngeal microsurgeries, including microflap, suturing, injection, and mucosal stripping techniques. For precancerous lesions such as vocal fold leukoplakia, severe atypical hyperplasia of the squamous epithelium, and laryngeal papilloma, the team completely removes the lesions through CO2 laser mucosal stripping surgery to achieve a cure. For early-stage laryngeal cancer, the team uses minimally invasive treatments such as CO2 laser or low-temperature plasma laryngeal microsurgery; on the basis of radical removal of the lesion, these treatments can avoid the trauma of laryngofissure and tracheotomy and preserve laryngeal function to the greatest extent. For glottic closure insufficiency such as vocal fold paralysis and vocal fold sulcus, as well as spasmodic dysphonia, the team performs various types of thyroplasty to improve phonatory function. At the same time, the team performs minimally invasive low-temperature plasma treatment for pediatric snoring disorders.

【Nasal and Anterior Skull-Base Subspecialty】

The subspecialty group takes minimally invasive endoscopic nasal surgery as its clinical foundation and specializes in endoscopic surgical treatment of inflammatory diseases of the nasal and paranasal sinus mucosa, such as chronic rhinosinusitis with or without polyps; developmental abnormalities of the nasal cavity and paranasal sinuses, such as deviated nasal septum, pneumatization and paradoxical curvature of the middle turbinate, and choanal atresia; and benign and malignant tumors of the nasal cavity and paranasal sinuses, such as inverted papilloma of the nasal cavity and paranasal sinuses and cavernous hemangioma of the nasal cavity and paranasal sinuses. In collaboration with the Department of Neurosurgery, it also performs tumor resection through a combined nasal cavity/paranasal sinus–anterior skull-base approach. As one of the departments involved in establishing the Department of Allergy at Huashan Hospital, the diagnosis and immunotherapy of allergic rhinitis, as well as the diagnosis and treatment of olfactory disorders, are also among the team’s specialties.

【Head and Neck Tumor Subspecialty】

Head and neck tumors have always been an important clinical development direction of the department. Relying on the department’s own strengths and the support of relevant hospital departments, it routinely performs surgical resection and functional reconstruction for laryngeal cancer, hypopharyngeal cancer, maxillofacial tumors, such as salivary gland tumors, tongue cancer, buccal mucosa cancer, and gingival cancer; oropharyngeal cancer, such as cancer of the root of the tongue and tonsillar cancer; parapharyngeal masses; and skin tumors of the head and neck.

| Introduction to the Department Director |--------------

Professor Yuan Yasheng

Yuan Yasheng is a chief physician, professor, doctoral supervisor, Director of the Department of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery of Huashan Hospital Affiliated to Fudan University, Deputy Director of the Research Institute of the Eye, Ear, Nose and Throat Hospital Affiliated to Fudan University, and Director of the Lateral Skull-Base Tumor Center. He was selected for the New Hundred Talents Program of the Shanghai Municipal Health System and as an Outstanding Academic Leader. He specializes in otoneurological and lateral skull-base surgery for facial paralysis, facial nerve tumors, acoustic neuromas, benign and malignant parotid tumors, temporal bone tumors, and jugular bulb tumors; otitis media and hearing reconstruction, including artificial ossicles and cochlear implantation; and the diagnosis and treatment of various types of hearing loss, tinnitus, and vertigo.

Professor Yuan Yasheng is a member of the American AAO-HNS and ARO, a member of the Otology Group of the Otorhinolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery Branch of the Chinese Medical Association, Secretary-General of the Otolaryngology Department of the Ministry of Health Physician Periodic Assessment, Chair of the Expert Committee on Facial Nerve Diseases of the Professional Committee of Otorhinolaryngology of the Chinese Association of Integrated Traditional and Western Medicine, Vice Chair of the Lateral Skull-Base Expert Committee of the Chinese Association of Integrated Medicine, and Deputy Editor-in-Chief of the English-language planned textbook for the clinical medicine specialty, 《Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery》, under the “13th Five-Year Plan” of the National Health and Family Planning Commission and the National Association for the Construction and Research of Higher Medical Textbooks. In 2024 and 2025, respectively, he led the development of the “Chinese Expert Consensus on the Diagnosis and Treatment of Facial Nerve Tumors” and the “Expert Consensus on Strategies for Intraoperative Facial Nerve and Hearing Preservation and Functional Reconstruction in Temporal Bone Cholesteatoma”.