Pulmonary Function Department

I. Department Overview

As one of the institutions that pioneered the discipline of pulmonary function in China, Shanghai Pulmonary Hospital established a “Cardiopulmonary Function Room” in 1955 and an independent “Pulmonary Function Laboratory” in 1980. It was among the first in China to develop a series of innovative techniques, including separate-lung pulmonary function measurement and standardized pulmonary function testing in children, and has consistently upheld standardized pulmonary function techniques while pursuing innovation. It ranks among the leading institutions in China in the scale of pulmonary function diagnosis and treatment, scientific research and academic work, and teaching standards.

II. Medical Features

The range of pulmonary function tests is comprehensive and includes arterial blood gas analysis, routine ventilatory function testing, pulmonary diffusing capacity, pulmonary capillary blood volume and membrane diffusing capacity measurement, airway resistance, body plethysmography, respiratory muscle strength testing, impulse oscillometry pulmonary function testing, bronchial provocation testing, bronchodilator testing, and other procedures. It was the first in China to conduct specialized pulmonary function tests such as cardiopulmonary exercise testing, volumetric capnography, static cardiopulmonary exercise testing, and invasive cardiopulmonary exercise testing, providing clinicians with new approaches to the diagnosis, treatment, and prognostic assessment of disease.

III. Service Volume

It was among the first in China to adopt an information-based management model for pulmonary function testing, and its service volume has maintained steady growth over the long term. The current annual workload has reached 330,000 patient-visits, placing the scale of testing and workload among the highest nationwide. The Department of Pulmonary Function is consistently committed to providing patients and clinicians with standardized and accurate test results, as well as a high-quality service experience.

IV. Personnel

Academic leader: Guo Jian, Chief Physician, Doctor of Medicine.

Member of the Pulmonary Function Group (Preparatory) of the Respiratory Branch of the Chinese Medical Association

Deputy Head of the Pulmonary Function Group of the Respiratory Branch of the Shanghai Medical Association

Standing Committee Member of the Respiratory Branch of the Chinese Research Hospital Association

Member of the Respiratory Branch of the Chinese Association of Gerontology and Geriatrics

Member of the Pulmonary Function Equipment Group of the Chinese Medical Equipment Association

Member of the Professional Committee on Lung Cancer of the Shanghai Women Physicians Association

Member of the Professional Committee on Respiratory Oncology of the Chinese Anti-Cancer Association

Yang Wenlan: Associate Chief Physician. Member of the Respiratory Therapy Group of the Respiratory Branch of the Chinese Medical Association, Standing Committee Member of the Special Committee on Pediatric Respiratory Function of the China Primary Health Care Foundation, and Member of the Respiratory Branch of the Chinese Association of Geriatric Health Care and Medical Research.

The Department of Pulmonary Function also has 1 attending physician, 1 resident physician, 3 supervising technologists, and 7 technologists. Among them are 6 instructors for standardized pulmonary function training. The department’s staffing and testing performance rank among the leading levels nationwide in the field of pulmonary function.

V. Research Achievements

The Department of Pulmonary Function has led and participated in multiple national-level and provincial/ministerial-level projects. It is one of the 11 core research institutions nationwide for a project under the “National Science and Technology Support Program,” and has formulated rehabilitation treatment strategies and individualized rehabilitation treatment plans suitable for patients in China during acute exacerbations of COPD. It has led one Youth Program of the National Natural Science Foundation of China and one General Program of the Shanghai Municipal Natural Science Foundation. More than 70 SCI-indexed papers related to pulmonary function and respiratory physiology and more than 100 papers in Chinese core journals have been published. The department has participated in formulating the National Guidelines for Pulmonary Function Testing; translating and compiling Principles and Interpretation of Cardiopulmonary Exercise Testing; and drafting specific measures and recommendations for dozens of guidelines or consensuses, including the Expert Consensus on Exhaled Nitric Oxide Testing Procedures and Clinical Applications (2025 Edition), the Technical Specifications for Methacholine (Methacholine Chloride) Bronchial Provocation Testing (2023 Edition), the Chinese Expert Consensus on the Principles, Quality Control, and Clinical Application of Portable Pulmonary Function Devices, the Technical Specifications for Pulmonary Function Testing—Impulse Oscillometry Testing, the Shanghai Expert Consensus on Home Oxygen Therapy for Adults with Chronic Pulmonary Diseases, the Expert Consensus on Conducting Pulmonary Function Testing During the Prevention and Control of the Novel Coronavirus Disease Pandemic, and Prevention of Cross-Infection During Pulmonary Function Testing in the Prevention and Control of Pneumonia Caused by Novel Coronavirus Infection. It has participated in 39 multicenter drug clinical trials, including 24 international multicenter drug clinical trials, and holds multiple patents.

VI. Teaching

Our department is a national training base for pulmonary function trainees and postgraduate students; it was among the first batch of “National Pulmonary Function Testing Training Centers” and among the first batch of “PCCM Pulmonary Function Single-Discipline Training Bases.” In 2016, our department began collaborating with the National Pediatric Pulmonary Function Collaboration Group for the first time, opening a new chapter in standardized pediatric pulmonary function testing nationwide. In 2017, our department was rated a “National Excellent Pulmonary Function Testing Training Center.” It has a national continuing medical education program, the “Study Course on New Advances in Pulmonary Function and Respiratory Physiology Techniques,” which is a high-quality course with considerable influence in China.

VII. Discipline Development

Pulmonary function testing is essential for the early screening, precision diagnosis, and rational pharmacotherapy of chronic respiratory diseases, and has important clinical value in assessing disease status, guiding medication use, and evaluating treatment efficacy in diseases of the chest, lungs, and airways. Our department has not only conducted a series of well-established studies on pulmonary function management in chronic diseases, including pulmonary function assessment and follow-up for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma, and interstitial lung diseases, as well as related cardiopulmonary rehabilitation, but also ranks among the national leaders in specialized pulmonary function research on the value of cardiopulmonary exercise testing for diagnosing pulmonary vascular disease, assessing disease status and treatment efficacy, and predicting prognosis. In collaboration with the Department of Thoracic Surgery, it has established a consensus on perioperative airway management in surgery, and has developed a comprehensive pulmonary function database covering chronic respiratory diseases, pulmonary vascular diseases, preoperative and postoperative assessment of patients undergoing thoracic surgery, and patients with tumors.