Central Campus Pediatric Neurology Ward

The Department of Pediatric Neurology of Shandong Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Shandong First Medical University was established in 1976. It was the first department in Shandong Province to establish a pediatric neurology specialty. In the 1980s, it took the lead in establishing the Pediatric Neurology Group of the Pediatric Branch of the Shandong Medical Association and was the inaugural group leader institution. It is currently the chair institution of the Pediatric Branch of the Shandong Maternal and Child Health Association, the chair institution of the Epilepsy Management Committee of the Shandong Hospital Association, the chair institution of the Pediatric Neurology Professional Committee of the Shandong Research-Oriented Hospital Association, the chair institution of the Patients Committee of the Shandong Anti-Epilepsy Association, and the chair institution of the Pediatric Neurology Group of the Shandong Medical Doctor Association.

At present, the Department of Pediatric Neurology has 6 chief physicians, 3 deputy chief physicians, and 3 attending physicians; among them are 2 medical postdoctoral fellows, 8 doctors of medicine, 4 master's supervisors, 4 hospital-recognized experts, 1 expert from the first group of the International Pediatric Department, 1 holder of an advanced CAAE electroencephalography certificate, 2 holders of intermediate certificates, and 2 holders of primary certificates; 2 physicians have passed the examination of the Epilepsy Specialist Physician Competency Development Project—the Galaxy Program—and hold intermediate certificates. The department has 15 nursing staff members and 7 electroencephalography and electromyography technicians, 31 formally designated statutory beds and 40 actually open beds, as well as a dedicated pediatric electrophysiology examination room for electroencephalography, electromyography, nerve conduction velocity, and brainstem evoked potentials. It was the first in the province to apply rapamycin in the treatment of tuberous sclerosis; new immunosuppressants, including rituximab, mycophenolate mofetil, tacrolimus, and tocilizumab, in the treatment of autoimmune encephalitis, neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder, MOG antibody-associated disease, central nervous system demyelination, myasthenia gravis, acute encephalopathy, FIRES, and other diseases. In particular, patients with refractory autoimmune encephalitis from many parts of the country, including Guangdong, Shanghai, Hebei, Jiangsu, and Northeast China, come to our department for treatment because of its reputation. It was the first in the province to carry out ketogenic diet therapy and vagus nerve stimulation for children with refractory epilepsy; more than 10 years earlier than other hospitals in the province, it applied ACTH to treat infantile epileptic spasm syndrome; it was the first to apply intrathecal injection of nusinersen sodium injection and oral risdiplam solution to treat spinal muscular atrophy; it was the first to apply selumetinib to treat neurofibromatosis; and it was the first to establish the Shandong Provincial Hospital Pediatric Neurological System Difficult-Case Multidisciplinary Integrated Clinic. The team possesses outstanding clinical capabilities in the treatment of difficult and critically ill cases. Since the establishment of the pediatric neurology specialty group, both its outpatient volume and the volume of treatment for patients with difficult and critically ill neurological conditions have ranked first in Shandong Province. This department is a leading institution for the diagnosis and treatment of pediatric neurological diseases in Shandong Province and has significant academic influence within the province. The annual volume of specialty outpatient visits reaches approximately 40,000, the annual number of discharged specialty patients is approximately 2,000, and the proportion of difficult, critically ill, and rare diseases leads the province.

The department attaches great importance to echelon development and talent cultivation and has successively sent many young physicians to Peking University First Hospital for further training and study. At the same time, it has strengthened academic exchanges with leading pediatric neurology hospitals in China and participated in numerous national multicenter clinical research projects, including the prospective cohort study of MOG antibody-associated disease. The department led more than 100 hospitals in Shandong Province in establishing the Shandong Provincial Hospital Pediatric Neurology Specialty Alliance and is also the chair institution of the Shandong Pediatric Tic Disorder Collaboration Group. Every year, it organizes continuing medical education courses in Shandong Province and regularly provides lectures for the specialty alliance, offering a platform to promote exchange and cooperation among hospitals at all levels. It has played a leading role in the emergency response to successive public health emergencies in Shandong Province and throughout the country.

The department places emphasis on teaching and scientific research. Over the years, it has undertaken undergraduate and master's student teaching at the School of Medicine of Shandong University; it has undertaken teaching assignments for undergraduate, master's, and international student classes at the School of Medicine of Shandong University and, as a standardized training base for residents in Shandong Province, has completed teaching and supervision assignments. It has led or participated in 7 projects funded by the National Natural Science Foundation and the Shandong Provincial Natural Science Foundation and has received 1 provincial third prize. It has served as editor-in-chief or co-editor of 15 monographs and published more than 100 papers in national and provincial journals, including more than 30 indexed by SCI; it has trained more than 30 master's students.