Ophthalmology

The Department of Ophthalmology of Yueyang Hospital of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine Affiliated to Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine was founded in 1979. Under the leadership of successive department directors, including Yin Changqing, Wu Danwei, Wang Yixin, and Xu Qing, it has developed into a comprehensive department integrating ophthalmic medical care, teaching, research, and rehabilitation. Its clinical service capacity and diagnostic and treatment efficiency are outstanding. In the Research Report on the Evaluation of the Academic Influence of Disciplines (Specialties) in Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospitals for 2023 released by the China Association of Chinese Medicine, our hospital’s Department of Ophthalmology ranked sixth nationally in traditional Chinese ophthalmology.

Under the leadership of the current department director, Deng Deyong, the Department of Ophthalmology has established the development goal of “building on traditional Chinese medicine and strengthening the integration of traditional Chinese and Western medicine.” It has gradually formed a service focus based on refractive cataract surgery and vitrectomy for various vitreoretinal diseases, with distinctive features including integrated traditional Chinese and Western medicine treatment of ocular surface diseases (traditional Chinese medicine fumigation and massage for dry eye and visual fatigue), extraocular muscle palsy (acupuncture), fundus diseases (diabetic retinopathy, age-related macular degeneration, retinal vein occlusion, uveitis, etc.), and myopia prevention and control in adolescents. In recent years, efforts have focused on building a rapid rehabilitation system for the integrated traditional Chinese and Western medicine treatment of diabetic retinopathy and retinal vein occlusion. At the same time, comprehensive prevention and control of myopia in adolescents has been carried out. Under the guidance of the three-level prevention and control system, while making full use of frame glasses, defocus glasses, OK lenses, and low-concentration atropine eye drops, traditional Chinese medicine approaches such as auricular point seed pressing, press-needle therapy at periocular acupoints, and local acupoint massage have been combined, and the use of traditional Chinese medicine fumigation and eye patches has been expanded, creating a new frontier in the comprehensive prevention and treatment of ophthalmic diseases. Over the years, solid clinical practice and achievements have established the department’s standing in the hearts of patients. The annual number of outpatient and emergency visits to the Department of Ophthalmology has increased substantially year by year and has now reached nearly 40,000 visits annually. The volume of inpatient surgeries has also increased year by year, primarily consisting of day surgeries, with nearly 1,500 ophthalmic surgeries completed each year.

The department adheres to comprehensive development in medical care, teaching, and research. It has successively undertaken and completed multiple projects funded by the Natural Science Foundation of the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Science and Technology, the Excellent Young Teacher Fund of the Shanghai Municipal Education Commission, and the Youth Fund of the Shanghai Municipal Health Commission, as well as multiple municipal Education Commission, university-level, and hospital-level projects, including the multimedia teaching courseware for Chinese Ophthalmology. In recent years, more than 100 academic papers have been published in various domestic and international journals, including Chinese Journal of Ophthalmology and Chinese Journal of Chinese Ophthalmology. The department has served as chief editor or contributing editor for more than 10 monographs and has served as chief editor or contributing editor for 17 national-level planning textbooks and provincial- and ministerial-level textbooks from the “Tenth Five-Year Plan” through the “Fourteenth Five-Year Plan.” For many years, the Department of Ophthalmology has undertaken classroom teaching and clinical instruction in Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine Ophthalmology and Chinese Ophthalmology for undergraduates and “5+3” integrated program students at Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, as well as standardized residency training instruction. To date, it has trained more than 10 master’s students in Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine Clinical Medicine and Traditional Chinese Medicine Otorhinolaryngology.

The department possesses advanced surgical, diagnostic, and treatment equipment from China and abroad, such as: the Alcon cataract phacoemulsification system, the Constellation vitreoretinal surgery system, the ZEISS Lumera 700 operating microscope, the Callisto eye surgical navigation system, biometry devices (IOLmaster 700 and Lenstar 900), a corneal endothelial cell counter, ultra-wide-field fundus photography, UBM, a fully automated computerized perimeter, a comprehensive refractor/optometry unit, a fundus fluorescein angiography system, as well as a fundus laser treatment system, a YAG laser system, an ultrasonic nebulization dry eye treatment device, and more.

The department’s diagnostic and treatment specialties: ① precise refractive cataract surgery (combined with refractive intraocular lenses such as trifocal, multifocal, toric, and extended-depth-of-focus lenses); ② minimally invasive vitrectomy for various vitreoretinal diseases; ③ plastic, cosmetic, and reconstructive surgery for various complex ocular traumas, ocular deformities, and ocular tumors; ④ integrated traditional Chinese and Western medicine treatment of various types of macular edema and uveitis (intravitreal injection combined with traditional Chinese medicine); ⑤ integrated traditional Chinese and Western medicine treatment of ocular surface diseases (dry eye and meibomian gland dysfunction), functional eye diseases (extraocular muscle palsy and eye fatigue), and myopia prevention and control in adolescents.

Traditional Chinese medicine specialties in ophthalmic diagnosis and treatment: The department currently has the Xu Qing Famous Physician Studio and the Wu Danwei Famous Traditional Chinese Medicine Physician Studio. It inherits and develops the diagnostic and treatment advantages of integrated traditional Chinese and Western medicine and applies characteristic traditional Chinese ophthalmic therapies in clinical practice. It uses syndrome differentiation and treatment, a combination of disease differentiation and syndrome differentiation, a combination of internal and external treatment, a combination of acupuncture and medication, a combination of prevention and treatment, classical formulas, and the Six Qi acupuncture method to treat common eye diseases such as age-related macular degeneration, retinal vein occlusion, glaucoma, keratitis, and uveitis, as well as refractory eye diseases such as retinitis pigmentosa, optic neuritis, and optic atrophy. The department currently has specialty outpatient clinics for fundus diseases, dry eye, ophthalmic laser treatment, and myopic refraction. Its outpatient comprehensive traditional Chinese medicine treatment room offers characteristic integrated traditional Chinese and Western medicine therapies, including traditional Chinese medicine eye compresses, traditional Chinese medicine ultrasonic nebulization, periocular acupoint massage, auricular point seed pressing, press needles, and meibomian gland massage, for the treatment of common eye diseases such as dry eye, visual fatigue, meibomian gland dysfunction, hordeolum, meibomian gland cysts, and pseudomyopia in adolescents. These treatments have achieved good therapeutic effects and have received widespread acclaim from patients.