Cardiothoracic Surgery

The Cardiothoracic Surgery Department of Zhejiang Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine was among the earliest departments in Zhejiang to perform general thoracic and cardiac surgery. In the late 1950s, we performed pulmonary resections under local and traditional Chinese acupuncture anesthesia, and carried out difficult cardiac operations including atrial septal defect repair under hypothermic anesthesia, open repair of ventricular septal defects under cardiopulmonary bypass, pulmonary valve stenosis surgery, and excision of atrial myxomas. The department has 15 physicians, including 3 master's supervisors, 4 with senior professional titles, 6 with intermediate titles, and 5 with junior titles; all physicians have at least a postgraduate degree. We routinely perform all types of thoracic surgery, minimally invasive surgery, and operations for difficult diseases. The two campuses have 25 cardiothoracic beds and perform nearly 600 operations annually. Annual lung-cancer and esophageal-cancer operations rank first in Zhejiang's TCM hospital system. We have extensive experience in surgical treatment of thoracic diseases.

Technical Advantages

In addition to routine outpatient diagnosis and treatment, the department operates specialty clinics for hyperhidrosis of the hands, mediastinal tumors, and small pulmonary nodules. We provide integrated Chinese and Western medical treatment for pulmonary nodules, lung cancer, esophageal cancer, mediastinal tumors, myasthenia gravis, hyperhidrosis, and other thoracic diseases. Minimally invasive treatment is routinely offered for lung cancer, esophageal cancer, mediastinal tumors, myasthenia gravis, hyperhidrosis, pulmonary bullae, rib fractures, and other conditions, with distinctive advantages in accelerated recovery through combined Chinese and Western medicine. Key techniques include single-port thoracoscopic lobectomy, segmentectomy, combined segmentectomy and subsegmentectomy; ultra-minimally invasive thoracoscopic sympathetic-chain transection for palmar hyperhidrosis; combined thoraco-laparoscopic radical esophagectomy; robot-assisted thoracoscopic radical surgery for lung and esophageal cancer; and subxiphoid thoracoscopic thymic-tumor resection.

Academic Standing

The department is currently a standing-member institution of the Thoracic and Cardiac Surgery Branch of the Chinese Association of Integrative Medicine; a member institution of the Mediastinal Tumor Branch of the China Anti-Cancer Association; a member institution of the Cardiothoracic Surgery branch of the Zhejiang Medical Association; a member institution of the Thoracic Surgery Branch of the Zhejiang Medical Doctor Association; a standing-member institution of the Tumor Minimally Invasive Branch of the Zhejiang Anti-Cancer Association; a member institution of the Minimally Invasive Thoracic Surgery Group of the Zhejiang Medical Doctor Association; a member institution of the Tumor MDT Branch of the Zhejiang Medical Doctor Association; a member institution of the Lung Cancer Prevention and Screening Committee of the China Anti-Cancer Association; a member institution of the Thoracic Tumor Branch of the Zhejiang Medical Doctor Association; and a member institution of the Minimally Invasive Surgery Branch of the Zhejiang Medical Doctor Association.

Research Achievements

In recent years, the department has led or participated in 4 Zhejiang Traditional Chinese Medicine science-and-technology plan projects, 1 Zhejiang medical and health science-and-technology plan project, 1 Zhejiang science-and-technology plan project under the Pioneer Program, and 2 new-technology/new-project programs of Zhejiang Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine. It has members of the editorial committee for the CACA Integrated Diagnosis and Treatment Guidelines for Thymic Tumors and qualified principal investigators for clinical trials of devices and medicines. It holds the annual Renhe Forum academic conference on thoracic tumors. As the specialized cardiothoracic disease diagnosis and treatment center within Zhejiang’s TCM hospital system, it regularly collaborates and exchanges with TCM hospitals throughout the province, accepts visiting trainees, and provides technical support.