Cardiac and Great Vessel Surgery

Tongji Hospital’s Department of Cardiovascular Surgery originated from the Thoracic Surgery Department established in 1951 by Academician Qiu Fazhu. Through the unremitting efforts of several generations, it has become a national key clinical specialty based in Hubei, serving central and southern China and influencing the whole country. Our department has complete facilities and excellent equipment, with 6 wards and 260 open beds, including 56 ICU beds. Its annual surgical volume has exceeded 3,500 cases, more than 80% of which are difficult and critically ill cases. Tongji Hospital’s Department of Cardiovascular Surgery has gathered a group of outstanding specialists. Its academic leader, Professor Wei Xiang, a second-level professor, is one of China’s distinguished and accomplished clinical experts in cardiovascular surgery. He is currently a member of the Society of Thoracic Surgeons of the United States, deputy director of the Hubei Branch of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery of the Chinese Medical Association, a member of the Cardiopulmonary Transplantation Group of the Organ Transplantation Branch of the Chinese Medical Association, a standing committee member of the Wuhan Organ Transplantation Branch of the Chinese Medical Association, deputy director of the Heart Transplantation Professional Committee of the Cardiac Surgery Branch of the Chinese Medical Doctor Association, deputy director of the Cardiovascular Surgery Branch of the Chinese Medical Doctor Association, a member of the Cardiovascular Surgery Branch of the Chinese Medical Doctor Association, a member of the Great Vessels Group of the Cardiovascular Disease Branch of the Chinese Medical Association, a standing committee member of the Minimally Invasive Cardiovascular Surgery specialty of the National Cardiovascular Disease Expert Committee, deputy director of the Hubei Branch of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery of the Hubei Medical Association, and director of the Great Vessel Disease Branch of the Doctors Association of the Western Returned Scholars Association (China Association of Returned Scholars). In 2024, Professor Wan Song, tenured professor of the Department of Surgery at the Faculty of Medicine of The Chinese University of Hong Kong, joined our department and participates in clinical diagnosis, treatment and research. Professor Wan is currently director of the Institute of Cardiovascular Surgery, a council member of AATS, a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of England (FRCS), a Fellow of the College of Surgeons of Hong Kong (FCSHK), a member of the Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS), the Asian Society for Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery (ASCVTS) and more than ten other professional societies, and an invited standing committee member of the Cardiovascular Surgery Branch of the Chinese Medical Doctor Association. He also serves on the AATS Education Committee, AATS Foundation Asian Scholarship Committee and AATS Centennial Committee, and has repeatedly been appointed a reviewer for the AATS Annual Meeting and a member of the STS Workforce on International Meetings. Our department has 203 employees, including 10 professors/chief physicians, 15 associate professors/deputy chief physicians, 12 attending physicians, 6 resident physicians, 6 perfusionists, 4 full-time research staff and 150 nurses, including assistant nurses. Our department is one of the first national training bases and degree-granting institutions approved by the Ministry of Health for master’s and doctoral programs in cardiac and general thoracic surgery. It has 21 graduate supervisors, and more than 80% of its doctors hold doctoral degrees and have studied at leading hospitals in Europe or the United States. In recent years, under the leadership of Professor Wei Xiang, the department has developed specialty strengths centered on minimally invasive surgery and critical-care treatment. In every cardiac-surgery subspecialty—including coronary artery disease, valvular disease, congenital heart disease, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, great-vessel disease and end-stage heart disease—it is at an advanced level in Hubei, with some areas reaching a leading national level. In treating end-stage cardiopulmonary disease, it is one of the few centers in China able to routinely perform both heart and lung transplantation. The quantity and quality of its heart and lung transplants have ranked among the national leaders for many years. It was the first in China to perform bloodless heart transplantation, and the first in Hubei to perform lung transplantation and combined heart-lung transplantation. It has received one first-prize Ministry of Education Science and Technology Progress Award as a collaborator, and one third-prize Science and Technology Progress Award each from Hubei Province and Wuhan. In great-vessel disease, both technical expertise and surgical volume rank among the national leaders. It was the first in central and southern China to perform total aortic replacement, total thoracoabdominal aortic replacement and hybrid surgery for type A aortic dissection. Through continuous innovation, it has become Hubei’s largest great-vessel disease treatment center integrating medical care, teaching and research. In valvular disease, it was the first in central and southern China to perform thoracoscopic-assisted valve replacement and repair, transcatheter valve replacement without opening the chest (TAVI), and completed Hubei’s first da Vinci robotic valve repair. Most valve operations in our department are now minimally invasive. In coronary artery disease, it was among the earliest in Hubei to perform off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting, total arterial coronary artery bypass grafting, small-incision minimally invasive multivessel bypass, coronary bypass in patients with uremia, and simultaneous radical treatment of esophageal or lung cancer combined with coronary disease. It also completed multivessel coronary bypass in Hubei’s oldest da Vinci robotic patient, aged 86. In congenital heart disease, it can correct various complex congenital cardiovascular malformations, such as tetralogy of Fallot, single ventricle and double-outlet right ventricle. It performed Hubei’s youngest repair of complete transposition of the great arteries, in a newborn within 24 hours of birth. It was the first in the province to perform percutaneous congenital-heart-disease closure, enabling day surgery with zero bleeding, zero radiation and zero incision, allowing patients to be discharged on the day of surgery. In hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, Professor Wei Xiang independently developed a transapical beating-heart ventricular septal myectomy system, which has received 20 Chinese national patents and 1 US invention patent. After clinical application, the device and procedure received broad recognition from colleagues in China and abroad. Related research was published in internationally renowned journals including the Journal of the American College of Cardiology (JACC), and Professor Wei was invited to present it at annual meetings of thoracic and cardiovascular surgery societies in Asia, Europe and the United States. It greatly advanced minimally invasive surgical treatment of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and won the first prize for technological invention of Hubei Province. General Secretary Xi Jinping personally praised the technology and cordially met Professor Wei. In addition, during the past five years, the center has obtained 14 National Natural Science Foundation projects and 1 National Key R&D Program project, with total research funding exceeding RMB 20 million. It has published more than 200 papers in Chinese and international academic journals, including more than 100 SCI papers as first or corresponding author in highly influential international journals such as Nature Medicine, Journal of the American College of Cardiology, Hepatology, The Journal of Clinical Investigation and Nature Communications. It has edited or translated several monographs, including Carpentier Valve Reconstructive Surgery, Guidelines for Diagnosis and Treatment of Cardiothoracic Surgical Diseases, Diseases of the Thymus, and Management of Cardiothoracic Surgical Emergencies and Complications. Our department adheres to the Tongji spirit of “rigor and pragmatism, pioneering innovation, wholehearted rescue and pursuit of excellence,” promotes development through innovation, and always remembers its motto: “be cautious before surgery, precise during surgery and diligent after surgery.” With sound medical ethics, high-quality service and excellent treatment outcomes, it has won unanimous praise from patients and their families.