Nephrology

I. Department Overview The Department of Nephrology at Zhongshan Hospital Affiliated with Xiamen University was established in 2002 and was the first specialized nephrology unit established in Xiamen. After more than 20 years of development, the department has become a leading discipline in nephrology in Fujian Province and the largest hemodialysis base in the province, integrating medical care, teaching, and research, with its overall strength consistently ranking among the best in the region. The department is a Fujian Provincial Clinical Key Specialty; a core institution of the National Clinical Research Center for Kidney Diseases (one of the two core institutions in Fujian Province); a National Center for Full-Course Management of Chronic Kidney Disease; a base of the National Drug Clinical Trial Institution (Good Clinical Practice, GCP); a key discipline under Xiamen’s diabetes nephropathy diagnosis and treatment plan; and a unit for the development of an Academician Guidance Platform. It is also the host institution for the Xiamen Hemodialysis Quality Control Center and the Xiamen Nephrology Professional Quality Control Center, the “dual quality-control centers,” and is the institution whose representative serves as Chair of the Nephrology Branch of the Xiamen Medical Association and the lead institution of the Xiamen “Three-Professional Co-Management” Center for Chronic Kidney Disease Prevention and Treatment. The department’s overall academic strength has received high recognition from authoritative evaluation systems: in the China Hospital Science and Technology Evaluation Metrics (STEM) released by the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences in 2018, the department ranked 94th nationwide among nephrology specialties and was the only listed institution in Xiamen (only 3 hospitals in Fujian Province were shortlisted); it ranked first in the Nephrology Specialty among Xiamen Hospitals in the Hong Kong Ailibi Hospital Rankings; its three major clinical indicators—discharged patients, outpatient volume, and hemodialysis—all rank among the top in nephrology in Fujian Province, and its number of hemodialysis sessions has ranked first in Fujian Province for 7 consecutive years. As a core institution of the National Clinical Research Center for Kidney Diseases, the department has partnered with 17 hospitals in Fujian Province to jointly build a collaborative research network and promote the harmonized development of regional kidney disease diagnosis and treatment. The department has more than 110,000 outpatient visits annually, more than 4,000 discharged patients annually, and an average length of stay of 6.5 days; it has 85 open inpatient beds, including intensive care beds and beds dedicated to rare diseases; it provides maintenance hemodialysis for more than 480 patients; completes more than 70,000 hemodialysis sessions and more than 1,000 continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT) sessions annually; follows approximately 160 peritoneal dialysis patients long term; and ranks second in the hospital for annual visits to the Internet Hospital. II. Historical Heritage and Disciplinary Foundation Professor Li Guoxian, the founder of the discipline, was one of the earliest master’s supervisors in Fujian Province and pioneered renal biopsy and pathological diagnosis in Xiamen, laying the foundation for the development of the discipline. In 2009, the department became the largest hemodialysis center in southwestern Fujian. China Central Television’s Approaching Science program produced a special report on the department’s successful treatment of patients with severe diabetic nephropathy; the department’s chronic kidney disease triage and referral work was recommended by Xiamen’s health authorities to China Central Television for nationwide publicity and promotion. III. Talent Team The department currently has 96 medical and nursing staff members, including 20 physicians and 76 nurses. The physician team includes 5 chief physicians and 9 associate chief physicians; senior professional titles account for 70%. Thirteen staff members hold doctoral degrees, including 2 currently enrolled in doctoral programs, and 6 hold master’s degrees; doctoral degree holders account for 65%, and those with master’s or doctoral degrees account for 95%, placing the department’s talent structure among the best in the province. The team currently includes 1 professor, 3 associate professors, and 6 master’s supervisors. The department head, Professor Gao Qing, holds a medical doctorate from Nanjing University and trained under Academician Liu Zhihong, an internationally renowned nephrologist. Professor Gao is a high-level and key talent in Xiamen, serves concurrently as a member of the Professional Committee of Integrated Oncology and Nephrology of the Chinese Anti-Cancer Association and the Rare Disease Professional Committee of the Chinese Hospital Association, and has won third place in the National Renal Rare Disease Case Competition and a Gold Award for a poster. The former department director, Professor Guan Tianjun, holds a medical doctorate and is a key talent recruited by Xiamen. He trained under Academicians Li Leishi and Liu Zhihong, previously served as Chair of the Nephrology Branch of the Xiamen Medical Association, Director of the Xiamen Hemodialysis Quality Control Center, and Director of the Xiamen “Three-Professional Co-Management” Center for Chronic Kidney Disease Prevention and Treatment. He has received research awards including the Second Prize of the National Science and Technology Progress Award and was honored as Xiamen’s Most Compassionate Physician of 2015. The expert team also includes a number of key specialists, including Professor Guo Hancheng, one of the first group of medical discipline leaders in Xiamen and Chair of the Nephrology Branch of the Xiamen Society of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine. Each year, the department sends key physicians to Peking University People’s Hospital and other leading domestic centers for advanced training, routinely accepts physicians from primary hospitals for further training, and trains master’s students. IV. Subspecialties and Scope of Diagnosis and Treatment The department has 8 well-established subspecialty groups and offers a general nephrology clinic as well as specialized clinics for glomerular diseases, chronic nephritis, chronic renal failure, post-kidney-transplant management, chronic kidney disease, and other conditions, covering all types of kidney disease and enabling disease-specific treatment and precision care: Primary glomerular disease subspecialty: standardized diagnosis and treatment of various forms of nephritis and nephrotic syndrome, including immunoglobulin A nephropathy (IgA nephropathy), membranous nephropathy, minimal change disease, and focal segmental glomerulosclerosis. Patients with symptoms such as foamy urine, hematuria, or edema can receive a definitive etiological diagnosis here. Secondary kidney disease subspecialty: diagnosis and treatment of renal injury caused by systemic diseases, including diabetic nephropathy, hypertensive renal injury, lupus nephritis, renal injury due to anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (ANCA)-associated vasculitis, cancer-associated kidney disease, and obesity-related nephropathy. Acute kidney injury and critical kidney disease subspecialty: organ-support treatment for all types of acute kidney injury and multiple organ failure, providing blood-purification life support for critically ill patients throughout the hospital. Chronic kidney disease and kidney failure subspecialty: full-course management of chronic kidney disease stages 1—5, prevention and treatment of uremic complications, and planning of renal replacement therapy. Blood purification subspecialty: the full range of blood-purification technologies, including hemodialysis, hemofiltration, hemoperfusion, plasma exchange, double plasma exchange, immunoadsorption, and continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT). Peritoneal dialysis subspecialty: peritoneal dialysis catheter placement, prescription development for automated peritoneal dialysis (APD), home management of peritoneal dialysis patients, and management of complications. Rare kidney disease subspecialty: diagnosis and treatment of hereditary kidney diseases, uncommon glomerular diseases, and rare renal tubulointerstitial diseases. Metabolic kidney disease and stone subspecialty: medical prevention and treatment of hyperuricemic nephropathy, gouty nephropathy, renal tubular acidosis, and urinary tract stones. V. Specialized and Advantageous Technologies 1. Precise coaxial renal biopsy and pathological diagnosis. The department routinely performs ultrasound-guided percutaneous renal biopsy, completing more than 300 cases annually, using coaxial puncture technology: the puncture needle is positioned once through the same tract and samples are collected from multiple points, significantly reducing the trauma and bleeding risks associated with repeated punctures, while causing less discomfort and providing greater safety for patients. In collaboration with the Department of Pathology, the department provides precise pathological diagnosis of kidney diseases. Renal biopsy is the gold standard for determining the pathological type of kidney disease and provides a reliable basis for individualized treatment. 2. Large-scale, standardized blood purification. The department is equipped with 133 internationally advanced hemodialysis/hemofiltration machines (on October 8, 2026, Area II of the Blood Purification Treatment Department was officially put into operation, adding 34 machines to the original 99), and uses a German Lauer two-stage reverse-osmosis water-treatment system to produce ultrapure water for dialysis, reducing the risk of dialysis-related complications at the source. More than 500 patients receive maintenance hemodialysis, and more than 70,000 hemodialysis sessions are completed annually. It is the largest single-center hemodialysis center in Fujian Province; the number of hemodialysis sessions has ranked first in the province for 7 consecutive years, and patient satisfaction is as high as 98%. A 24-hour green channel for critical-care blood purification is available, with 4 CRRT machines and more than 1,000 CRRT sessions completed annually, providing blood-purification life support for critically ill patients throughout the hospital. 3. One-stop diagnosis and treatment of dialysis vascular access. The department has repeatedly achieved firsts in the field of vascular access: in 2006, it was the first in Xiamen to independently perform long-term central venous indwelling catheter placement, ending the history of dependence on out-of-town experts for this procedure; it performed Xiamen’s first prosthetic arteriovenous fistula creation under local anesthesia; and it was the first in Fujian Province to perform endovascular thrombus fragmentation + thrombolysis + balloon dilation. More than 4,000 arteriovenous fistula dilation procedures have been completed, placing the department among the leaders in Fujian; the proportion of patients requiring vascular-access reconstruction has decreased from 17% to 5%, effectively protecting patients’ valuable vascular resources. A specialized interventional operating room is available, enabling the entire process of vascular-access creation, maintenance, and complication management to be completed within the department. 4. Peritoneal dialysis and home dialysis management. The department is equipped with 5 automated peritoneal dialysis (APD) machines and follows approximately 160 peritoneal dialysis patients long term. Patients can complete dialysis at home during the night and receive online monitoring and guidance from the medical team through the remote management system for peritoneal dialysis patients. The team was the first to adopt a new “pull”-type peritoneal dialysis catheter removal technique; removal of the entire peritoneal dialysis catheter takes only several minutes, significantly reducing patient discomfort. 5. Diagnosis and treatment of rare kidney diseases. The department has established a rare kidney disease subspecialty and a multidisciplinary team (MDT) for rare diseases, and has dedicated rare-disease beds in the ward. The academic leader also serves as a member of the Rare Disease Professional Committee of the Chinese Hospital Association and has won awards in national renal rare disease case competitions, providing a specialized and standardized diagnostic and treatment team for patients with difficult-to-diagnose hereditary or uncommon kidney diseases. In 2025, the nephrology rare-disease ward was officially established; together with the current expansion of the hemodialysis ward, it jointly supports the development of the “Big Nephrology” discipline. 6. Multidisciplinary team (MDT) diagnosis and treatment. The department routinely conducts oncology nephrology MDTs in collaboration with the Department of Hematology and the Department of Oncology, diabetic nephropathy MDTs in collaboration with the Department of Endocrinology, rare kidney disease MDTs, and dialysis vascular access MDTs, providing one-stop diagnosis and treatment plans for complex patients with multiple diseases. Department experts participated in compiling national guidelines and consensuses, including the Chinese Expert Consensus on Full-Course Management of Proteinuria Associated with Cancer Diagnosis and Treatment and Kidney Protection: Chinese Technical Guidelines for Integrated Cancer Diagnosis and Treatment. 7. Full-course three-professional co-management of chronic kidney disease. As the lead institution of the Xiamen “Three-Professional Co-Management” Center for Chronic Kidney Disease Prevention and Treatment, the department has developed an innovative chronic disease management model involving specialist physicians, general practitioners, and health managers. Experts regularly provide outreach services, and the model has now reached 22 community health service centers in the region. The relevant experience was recommended by Xiamen’s health authorities to China Central Television for nationwide publicity and promotion, enabling patients to receive standardized follow-up management from a tertiary-hospital expert team close to home. 8. Convenient Internet healthcare services. The Internet Hospital ranks second in the hospital for annual visits and routinely provides online follow-up consultations, report interpretation, prescription renewals for chronic diseases, and health counseling, facilitating follow-up medical care for dialysis and chronic disease patients. VI. Research and Teaching The department is a GCP base of the National Drug Clinical Trial Institution. The number of drug clinical trials conducted, including international multicenter studies, ranks first both within the hospital and in Xiamen. In 2025, 14 drug clinical trial projects were in progress, providing patients with refractory kidney disease opportunities to receive internationally advanced new drugs and treatments. In 2018, the department was shortlisted among the national top 100 nephrology departments in the China Hospital Science and Technology Evaluation Metrics (STEM), the only one in Xiamen. In 2025, it published 13 academic papers, including 11 indexed by the Science Citation Index (SCI); it newly obtained 5 provincial- and municipal-level research projects, including 2 general projects of the Fujian Provincial Natural Science Foundation. Two clinical studies were selected for presentation at the 62nd Annual Meeting of the European Renal Association (ERA), one of which was presented orally at the meeting. Department experts have received research awards including the Second Prize of the National Science and Technology Progress Award and participated in the preparation of national guidelines and expert consensuses, including the Guidelines for Pregnancy Management in Patients with Chronic Kidney Disease. The department undertakes clinical teaching for undergraduate and graduate students of Xiamen University Medical School and is a national standardized residency training base. Each year, it hosts provincial- and municipal-level academic meetings, including the Xiamen Hemodialysis Quality Control Training Course and the Study Course on New Advances in Integrated Management of Chronic Kidney Disease, continuously training nephrology professionals for southwestern Fujian. VII. Hardware, Equipment, and Treatment Environment The department has 85 standardized inpatient beds in operation, with a clean and comfortable environment and comprehensive supporting facilities. The Blood Purification Treatment Department is equipped with 100 hemodialysis/hemofiltration machines, excluding 35 under construction, 4 CRRT machines, 5 automated peritoneal dialysis (APD) machines, and a German Lauer two-stage reverse-osmosis water-treatment system. Specialized diagnostic and treatment equipment includes imported color Doppler ultrasound machines, ambulatory blood pressure monitors, a chronic kidney disease information management system, and a remote management system for peritoneal dialysis patients. A specialized interventional operating room for vascular access is also available, and the hardware has reached an advanced level in China. VIII. Disciplinary Honors Fujian Provincial Clinical Key Specialty Core institution of the National Clinical Research Center for Kidney Diseases (one of the two core institutions in Fujian Province) National Center for Full-Course Management of Chronic Kidney Disease National Drug Clinical Trial Institution (GCP base) National Top 100 in Nephrology in the China Hospital Science and Technology Evaluation Metrics (STEM) (the only listed institution in Xiamen) First place in the Nephrology Specialty among Xiamen Hospitals in the Hong Kong Ailibi Hospital Rankings Key discipline under Xiamen’s diabetes nephropathy diagnosis and treatment plan Host institution of the Xiamen Hemodialysis Quality Control Center and the Xiamen Nephrology Professional Quality Control Center Institution whose representative serves as Chair of the Nephrology Branch of the Xiamen Medical Association Xiamen “Three-Professional Co-Management” Center for Chronic Kidney Disease Prevention and Treatment Xiamen Youth Civilization Unit Experts have received honors including the Second Prize of the National Science and Technology Progress Award, Xiamen’s Most Compassionate Physician, designation as one of the first group of Medical Discipline Leaders in Xiamen, and designation as a High-Level Talent in Xiamen. IX. Service Philosophy The department adheres to the service principle of being patient-centered and upholds the departmental culture of responsibility, rigor, and dedication. From early screening for proteinuria and hematuria to renal replacement therapy and full-course management of uremia, it is committed to providing every patient with kidney disease with precise, standardized, comprehensive, and compassionate medical services. With the academic strength that ranks first in the Nephrology Specialty among Xiamen Hospitals and first in Fujian Province, the department safeguards the kidney health of the broader patient community.