Liver Disease

Overview and scale

The Department of Liver Disease of Yueyang Hospital is an integrated Chinese and Western medicine liver-disease department characterized by Haipai traditional Chinese medicine for liver disease, strengthened by coordinated integration of Chinese and Western medicine, and guided by scientific and technological innovation. It was jointly established by the teams of Professors Zhu Junfeng, Zhao Gang, and Wang Jianyi. Associate Professor Cai Xiong, former director of the Infectious Diseases Department of Changzheng Hospital, and Professor Xue Boyu, a renowned TCM physician of Jiangsu and chief editor of the national undergraduate planning textbook Internal Medicine of Traditional Chinese Medicine, joined the department. Professor Wang Lingtai serves as consultant. It includes the Liu Huabao National Famous TCM Physician Studio, the Zhu Junfeng TCM Inheritance and Innovation Studio, the Zhu Junfeng and Professor Zhao Gang Yueyang Famous Physician Studio, is a flagship department of the National Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, and is an affiliated unit of the National Alliance of TCM Liver-Disease Schools. The wards include cirrhosis and liver-disease units, making it one of China’s larger liver-disease specialties. There are 116 beds, including 91 approved beds and 25 day beds. Patients come from across China and some overseas regions; annual discharges are approximately 5,000, including about 2,000 patients with cirrhotic ascites and complications discharged each year from the cirrhosis unit. There are 6 dedicated liver-disease outpatient rooms and a 10-member expert team, including 3 doctoral supervisors, 5 professors, and 9 master’s supervisors. The department has 1 incoming president and 2 vice presidents of the Liver and Gallbladder Disease Branch of the China Association for the Promotion of Chinese Medicine Research, 1 incoming chair of the Liver Disease Branch of the Shanghai Association of Integrative Chinese and Western Medicine, 1 chair of its Evidence-Based Medicine Committee, 2 vice chairs of the Liver Disease Branch of the Shanghai Association of Chinese Medicine, 2 Shanghai leading TCM talents, 1 outstanding reserve TCM talent of Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine (Gao Sicheng), 2 inheritors of renowned senior TCM physicians, and 2 Shanghai Yangfan talents (Sun Xin and Li Qiong). Professor Zhu Junfeng leads the Shanghai TCM Specialized Disease Alliance for cirrhotic ascites (water-drum disease) and has led several projects, including National Natural Science Foundation projects and Shanghai Municipal Science and Technology Commission projects on cirrhotic ascites. Under Shanghai’s three-year action plan for TCM, key supported projects include cirrhotic ascites; major clinical disease projects include liver cancer; comprehensive TCM treatment projects include fatty liver; and intangible cultural heritage work includes the advantageous Ding-style internal-medicine liver diseases cirrhotic ascites and liver cancer. Professor Zhao Gang has led and participated in research from the 11th through 13th Five-Year Plans on liver cancer, cirrhosis, and chronic hepatitis B, as well as the Everest Plan for clinical cure of chronic hepatitis B and the Oasis Project for liver-cancer prevention and treatment. Professor Wang Jianyi has led more than 10 national and provincial/ministerial projects, written 6 monographs, and formulated 1 national standard. The department edited the liver-disease works Ascites Special Issue, Accumulation Special Issue, and Famous Shanghai Physicians Discussing Ascites, and has received awards including the third prize of the Science and Technology Award of the China Association of Chinese Medicine, the second prize of the 11th Shanghai TCM Science and Technology Award for Scientific Achievements, and the third prize of the Science and Technology Award of the Chinese Association of Integrative Medicine.

The department is equipped with FibroTouch transient liver elastography, an artificial liver, an ascites reinfusion machine, a liver-disease treatment instrument, a colon dialysis machine, and other advanced devices. It routinely performs liver biopsy, ablation, interventional procedures, esophageal variceal band ligation, high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU), percutaneous transhepatic cholangial drainage (PTCD), transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS), and other diagnostic and treatment procedures, performed by experienced treatment-team physicians. The department has completed formation of an in-hospital and external multidisciplinary liver-disease expert MDT. Led by the liver-disease department and joined by experts in liver surgery, endoscopy, intervention, laboratory medicine, and other fields, it has formed a one-stop, full-cycle model centered on liver disease, organized around advantageous diseases and using TCM, integrated Chinese and Western medicine, and multidisciplinary coordination at different disease stages, thereby improving the clinical capacity to manage major difficult liver diseases and enhancing outcomes.

Specialty strengths

Cirrhotic ascites: Led by Professor Zhu Junfeng, the team jointly invented the distinctive external-application transdermal patch Shuigu Tie with Professor Wang Lingtai, who was Professor Zhu’s clinical and academic mentor. It is simple, convenient, effective, and affordable, and the team was the first in China to publish papers proposing the theory of treating cirrhotic ascites with three treatments and two preventions. For decompensated cirrhosis, ascites, portal hypertension, upper gastrointestinal bleeding, splenomegaly, and other complications, the MDT combines Chinese medicine with band ligation, splenic embolization, TIPS, and other measures to prevent and treat complications, improve outcomes, and reduce recurrence of ascites and upper gastrointestinal bleeding.

Liver cancer: Led by Professor Zhao Gang, the department uses four combinations: Chinese and Western medicine, internal and external treatment, acupuncture and medication, and prevention and treatment. An embedded treatment team uses acupuncture instead of a knife, combines acupuncture and medication, and treats throughout the course. Strategies are tailored to stage: early disease combines surgery and ablation, followed by strengthening healthy qi and inhibiting tumors to prevent recurrence; intermediate disease combines TCM strengthening with intervention, targeted and immune agents, and HIFU, balancing liver protection and tumor suppression; late disease uses TCM to strengthen the constitution, consolidate the root, and restore normal function, improving quality of life and prolonging survival.

Autoimmune liver disease: Led by Professor Wang Jianyi, the team proposes regulating the liver, spleen, and kidneys; clearing damp-heat; removing blood stasis and jaundice; and nourishing yin and blood. Combined with the qi, blood, yin, and yang theory, this treats autoimmune liver disease; with ursodeoxycholic acid and similar drugs it can improve outcomes and reduce the dose and adverse effects of hormones or immunosuppressants. A specialty rubbing preparation is the liver-protecting and itch-relieving agent.

Fatty liver with metabolic syndrome: Led by Associate Chief Physician Gao Sicheng, the department systematically assesses the liver, blood lipids, blood glucose, uric acid, ferritin, coronary and carotid vessels, gastrointestinal tract, kidneys, and related conditions. Its comprehensive TCM Five-in-One therapy combines oral Chinese medicine, acupoint application, acupoint embedding, semaglutide, tirzepatide, mazdutide, and light intermittent fasting. For fatty liver, obesity, and metabolic syndrome, it can markedly improve fatigue, flank pain, dry or bitter mouth and bad breath, reduce multiple highs (high transaminases, lipids, uric acid, blood glucose, blood pressure, and so on), and improve obesity and constitution. The department has developed liver-protecting and lipid-lowering tea, alcohol-detoxifying and dampness-removing tea, fat-removing and weight-loss tea, and other teas.

Chronic hepatitis B: Led by Professors Zhu Junfeng and Zhao Gang, TCM can effectively inhibit progression of liver fibrosis and regulate immunity. Combined with long-acting interferon and antiviral drugs, it can increase immune response and clinical cure rates while reducing adverse effects of interferon and other Western medicines.

Difficult severe liver disease with infection: Led by Gao Sicheng and Cai Xiong, artificial liver support and extensive clinical anti-infective medication are combined with Chinese medicine to treat liver failure and spontaneous bacterial peritonitis, control infection, reduce liver injury and mortality in severe disease, and improve prognosis.

Traditional Chinese medicine liver disease: Led by Professor Xue Boyu and Director Huang Botao, traditional TCM liver diseases such as liver depression with spleen deficiency and liver-kidney deficiency, with fatigue, flank pain, dizziness, dry mouth, irregular menstruation, various nodular diseases, insomnia, and other symptoms, are treated with traditional Chinese medicine to improve symptoms, stabilize disease, and enhance quality of life.

Liver-spleen-stomach co-regulation specialty: Led by experts Wang Jianyi and Ni Liqiang, the team treats chronic digestive diseases in which liver disease is accompanied by spleen-stomach disharmony, with belching, acid regurgitation, abdominal distention, poor appetite, and epigastric pain. TCM is used to soothe the liver, strengthen the spleen, harmonize the stomach, resolve dampness, regulate qi, and promote transport, together with diet and lifestyle care, to improve symptoms and consolidate liver-disease outcomes.

The department is committed to building a liver-disease diagnosis and treatment model with Haipai TCM characteristics and integrated Chinese and Western medicine MDT care throughout the course and full cycle, developing an internationally first-class clinical research-oriented integrated liver-disease discipline with distinctive TCM inheritance and innovation, and serving patients at home and abroad more effectively.