Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine

The Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine of Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, was established in 1994. It is one of the first National Regional Medical Centers for Respiratory Diseases jointly established by national and provincial authorities, a National Key Clinical Specialty, the Office for the Prevention and Control of Chronic Respiratory Diseases of Zhejiang Province, the Zhejiang Provincial Respiratory Disease Diagnosis and Treatment Technology Guidance Center, and a core unit of the National Respiratory Research Center. It is one of the first nationally recognized tertiary-level outstanding institutions to receive accreditation for standardized construction of a Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine (PCCM), a key discipline of the Zhejiang Provincial Health Commission, an institution authorized to confer doctoral degrees in respiratory medicine by Zhejiang University, the chairing institution of the Respiratory Physicians Branch of the Zhejiang Medical Doctor Association, the chairing institution of the Zhejiang Provincial Pulmonary Vascular Alliance, the chairing institution of the Zhejiang Provincial Respiratory Endoscopy Alliance, and the chairing institution of the Zhejiang Provincial Respiratory Therapy Alliance. In the four major fields of clinical diagnosis and treatment capabilities and technologies for difficult and critical respiratory diseases, PCCM development, chronic disease prevention and control and tiered diagnosis and treatment, and clinical teaching and translation of research products, it has developed into the core system with the most outstanding results, the most distinctive characteristics, and the greatest influence throughout the center.

Our department currently has 196 open beds, including 25 Respiratory Intensive Care Unit (RICU) beds. The department admits more than 10000 inpatients annually, receives more than 200000 outpatient visits annually, and performs more than 2000 respiratory endoscopic procedures/year. Our department currently has 52 clinical physicians, including 9 chief physicians, 11 associate chief physicians, 1 doctoral supervisor, and 3 master's supervisors; more than 50% of the physicians hold doctoral degrees. Department personnel have led 19 National Natural Science Foundation of China projects, more than 50 projects including National Major Scientific Research Instrument Development Projects, Zhejiang Province “Lingyan” Research and Development Tackling Program projects, Provincial Natural Science Foundation projects, and provincial- and departmental-level projects; obtained more than 10 national patents, 4 Zhejiang Science and Technology Progress Awards, and multiple other honors including Zhejiang Provincial Health Commission awards. Nearly 300 papers have been published, including more than 100 indexed by SCI, with the highest impact factor being 14.903.Under the leadership of Professor Chen Enguo, the discipline leader, the team adheres to the principle of “giving patients confidence, sincerity, and love” and provides safe, high-quality medical services.

Technical Advantages

(I) Diagnosis and treatment of pulmonary vascular diseases (pulmonary thromboembolism, pulmonary hypertension, etc.)

Our department was the earliest unit in Zhejiang Province to carry out standardized diagnosis and treatment of pulmonary thromboembolism and pulmonary hypertension. It is a Thrombosis Prevention and Treatment Demonstration Unit of the China Health Promotion Foundation and the chair unit of the Zhejiang Pulmonary Vascular Alliance. It has led and formulated regional and in-hospital prevention and treatment systems for deep vein thrombosis. In 2019, it was awarded the title of one of the first batch of outstanding national units for the national capacity-building program for the prevention and treatment of pulmonary embolism and deep vein thrombosis. It has continuously hosted ten sessions of the national-level continuing education course “Advances in the Diagnosis and Treatment of Pulmonary Vascular Diseases,” training thousands of relevant physicians. At the same time, the department established the province’s first respiratory specialty outpatient clinic for pulmonary vascular diseases and has accumulated extensive clinical experience in the diagnosis and treatment of pulmonary vascular diseases.

(II) Interventional treatment with bronchoscopy

Our department’s respiratory endoscopy diagnosis and treatment technology is at the leading level in the province, and it is one of the earliest units in Zhejiang Province to carry out interventional treatment under bronchoscopy. The volume of complex, difficult, and critically ill interventional surgeries ranks first in the province, and it receives the largest number of physicians from across the province for advanced training in respiratory endoscopic intervention. The team holds patents and has conducted research and development on tracheal indwelling tubes, multifunctional electrosurgical coagulation knives, universal stent implantation devices, and biodegradable stents. It has become proficient in airway interventions including EBUS, airway stent implantation, balloon dilation, cryotherapy, thermal ablation, and bronchial thermoplasty, as well as medical thoracoscopy and rigid bronchoscopy. Since 2016, it has held annual premium surgical demonstrations in respiratory endoscopic intervention and advanced training courses in respiratory endoscopic intervention. In 2017, it obtained the Respiratory Endoscopist Training Base of the Chinese Medical Doctor Association and has trained more than 1000 respiratory interventional physicians.

(III) Early diagnosis and standardized, individualized diagnosis and treatment of lung cancer.Our department has always been committed to the development of early screening, comprehensive, standardized diagnosis and treatment of lung cancer. It has participated in multiple international multicenter clinical studies of antitumor drugs. In terms of scientific research, over the past 5 years, we have obtained five national and provincial projects related to lung cancer; we have worked to develop interdisciplinary oncology and, in cooperation with the Department of Biomedical Engineering of Zhejiang University, independently developed a device-level prototype of a novel MOS-SAW composite sensor electronic nose instrument, providing an auxiliary technical platform and means for the early screening and diagnosis of lung cancer. At the same time, a registry of lung cancer patients and a lung cancer specimen bank have been established, providing a platform for scientific research.

Academic Status

National Respiratory Regional Medical Center

National Health Commission Key Clinical Specialty

Core Unit of the National Center for Respiratory Medicine

National Center for the Diagnosis and Treatment of Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension

One of the first excellent tertiary units in China to receive the assessment for standardized construction of departments of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine (PCCM)

Key Discipline of the Zhejiang Provincial Health Commission

Authorized Institution for Conferring Doctoral Degrees in Respiratory Medicine at Zhejiang University

Chair Institution of the Respiratory Physicians Branch of the Zhejiang Medical Doctor Association

Chair Institution of the Zhejiang Provincial Pulmonary Vascular Alliance

Chair Institution of the Zhejiang Provincial Respiratory Endoscopy Alliance

Chair Institution of the Zhejiang Provincial Respiratory Therapy Alliance

Scientific Research Achievements

Since 2006, it has undertaken 5 General Programs of the National Natural Science Foundation of China, 14 Young Scientists Fund projects of the National Natural Science Foundation of China, 1 National Major Scientific Research Instrument Development Project, and 1 Zhejiang Province Pioneer and Leading Goose Research and Development Challenge Program project. It has undertaken more than 50 projects, including the National Major Scientific Research Instrument Development Project, the Zhejiang Province “Leading Goose” Research and Development Challenge Program, the Provincial Natural Science Foundation projects, and provincial and departmental-level projects; it has been granted more than 10 national patents, received 4 Zhejiang Provincial Science and Technology Progress Awards, and obtained multiple honors including awards from the Zhejiang Provincial Health Commission. Nearly 300 papers have been published, including more than 100 indexed by SCI, with the highest impact factor reaching 14.903.