Neurosurgery is one of the disciplines with the shortest history and the fastest development in the surgical fields. Before the Liberation in 1949, the neurosurgery discipline was almost blank in China. In nearly thirty years from the founding of the People’s Republic of China to the reform and opening-up, a group of neurosurgeons at West China Hospital, represented by Drs. Qiu Tiguang, Gao Lida, Liao Wenman, Qiu Xuxiang and so on, made unremittent exploration and development and did a lot of pioneering work in extremely difficult environment when China's science and technology field was almost completely blocked from the outside world. In 2005, the Department of Neurosurgery of West China Hospital started to set up sub-specialties, which was the first in extra-large comprehensive hospitals in China at that time. In 2018, the Department ranked the third in the country on the Specialty Ranking released by Fudan University.
Basic medical conditions: There are currently 294 beds in the department, including 114 beds at Shangjin Hospital (a branch campus). There are also more than 20 neurological ICU beds and more than 100 beds for rehabilitation and follow-up treatments. The Department has also established two-way referrals with many hospitals in Chengdu. The patients came from all over the country. The annual outpatient volume of the Department is close to 70,000 cases, the annual inpatients are more than 10,000, the annual craniotomy volume is 6,799 cases, the Gamma Knife and endovascular interventional operation is over 2,000 cases, and the total annual surgery volume is over 9,000 cases.
Department setting: Currently, the Department of Neurosurgery has ten subspecialties: cerebrospinal vascular disease, anterior-medium skull base disease, posterior skull base disease, glioma, spinal disease, craniocerebral trauma, functional neurosurgery, stereotactic radiation neurosurgery, pediatric neurosurgery and neurological intervention.
Key medical technologies: Complex intracranial vascular disease, skull base tumors, deep brain lesions, functional neurosurgery, complex craniocervical junction lesions and other difficult diseases have become the main treatment, accounting for more than 70% of surgeries. It is at the domestic advanced level in the fields of craniocerebral injury, epilepsy surgery, basic and clinical research of craniopharyngioma, surgical treatment of congenital malformations of the occipital region, cerebrovascular disease, as well as functional neurological diseases, such as Parkinson's disease.
Talent team: At present, there are 52 doctors in our department, including 15 professors, 14 associate professors, 15 with intermediate titles, and 33 of them have doctoral degrees. The Department has 8 doctoral tutors and 16 master tutors. At Shangjin Hospital (a branch campus), there are 9 professors, 4 with intermediate titles, 3 doctoral tutors and 14 with doctoral degrees.. Currently, the Department has sufficient talent reserves and a talent team for sustainable development.
Key discipline: The Department was approved as a key specialty of the Ministry of Health in 2011. 18 staff take posts at academic organizations of different levels across the country, including vice president, vice-chairman, standing member and general member of the Chinese Medical Association, the Chinese Medical Doctor Association and the Special Committee on Neuro-oncology. More than 20 staff working in provincial academic organizations, taking posts as chairman, vice-chairman, standing member and general member of the special committees on neurosurgery of the province and the city. The Department of Neurosurgery of West China Hospital has ranked third for a long time on the Reputation Ranking of Best Specialties in Chinese Hospitals released by Fudan University since 2010 and the Ranking of the Best Clinical Discipline in China (the Peking University) since 2016.
Medical education: The Department of Neurosurgery of West China Hospital is the first batch of doctoral degree (1986) and master’s degree (1981) authorization sites approved by the State Council, and is also a key neurosurgery doctoral candidate training base and postdoctoral research station in western China. In 2016, the Department became the second continuing education training center in the country accredited by the World Federation of Neurosurgical Societies (WFNS). So far, there are only three centers across the country. The Department annually recruits 2-4 advanced trainees from all over the world.
Clinical research: Since establishment of subspecialties in 2005, the Department of Neurosurgery of West China Hospital has undertaken a total of 140 scientific research projects at the national, ministerial, and provincial levels, with a cumulative funding of 35.69 million. A total of 870 papers have been published, including 474 SCI papers. 33 patents were obtained, including 17 invention patents. The Department has edited and participated in the edition of more than 20 monographs, and has won 15 scientific and technological achievement awards at various levels, including 4 national-level and 8 provincial-ministerial awards, including the First and Second Prizes of the Chinese Medical Science and Technology Progress Award, and the Second Prize of the Huaxia Medical Science and Technology Award.
