Cardiac Surgery

Shanghai Ruijin Hospital’s Department of Cardiac Surgery is one of the first cardiothoracic surgery departments established after the founding of the People’s Republic of China. In 1978, it successfully performed Asia’s first allogeneic heart transplant, and it has a very high academic standing and influence both domestically and internationally. It has now become one of China’s leading cardiac centers, with particular strengths in comprehensive surgical treatment of complex coronary artery disease, heart valve disease, diseases of the great vessels, surgical treatment of heart failure, minimally invasive surgery, robot-assisted cardiac surgery, minimally invasive interventional hybrid techniques, and minimally invasive interventional treatment of valvular disease. It ranked No. 9 among cardiac surgery specialties in the “2019 Edition of Peking University’s Evaluation of China’s Strongest Clinical Disciplines”; No. 9 nationwide among cardiovascular surgery specialties in the 2021 China Hospital Science and Technology Value STEM Ranking; and was a hospital nominated among the top 10 in cardiac surgery reputation in Fudan University’s 2021 Chinese Hospital and Specialty Reputation Ranking. The department’s academic leader, renowned cardiac surgeon Professor Qiang Zhao, is a “Shanghai Craftsman,” a “Shanghai Leading Talent,” and a “Shanghai Outstanding Academic Leader,” and has served as chief surgeon in more than 25,000 cardiac operations. The department performs nearly 2,000 operations annually; difficult, emergency, and critically ill-patient operations account for more than 50%, while minimally invasive surgery accounts for around 30%. A wide range of rare and critical operations have been successfully performed, from meticulous “coronary artery bypass grafting” in preschool children to the massive “total thoracoabdominal aortic replacement” procedure, which requires opening half the body; the overall mortality rate is below 2%. In addition, the department actively participates in basic research projects and clinical randomized controlled research projects, promotes the translation of basic research findings into applications, publishes high-quality clinical and translational research results in leading medical journals including JAMA and Nature Medicine, and has led or co-led the drafting of 10 expert consensus documents in China’s coronary surgery field. It has received the Chinese Medical Science and Technology Award, the Shanghai Science and Technology Progress Award, and other awards on multiple occasions. At present, the department is leading 1 ongoing National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars project, 1 major project of the Ministry of Science and Technology, 2 General Program projects of the National Natural Science Foundation of China, and 1 Young Scientists Fund project of the National Natural Science Foundation of China; it has 2 doctoral supervisors and 10 doctoral and master’s students currently enrolled. Over the past nearly 5 years, it has published many high-quality academic articles, including 25 SCI papers; the highest impact factor for a single paper is 54 points, and the cumulative impact factor exceeds 500 points; the total funding for ongoing projects under its leadership is approximately RMB 23 million;