The Department of Ophthalmology of West China Hospital, Sichuan University dates back to the Chengdu Cunren Hospital of Eye, Ear, Nose and Throat founded by missionaries from USA and UK in 1894. It was named as Department of Ophthalmology of Affiliated Hospital of Sichuan Medical School after 1949, then has been renamed as Department of Ophthalmology of West China Hospital, Sichuan University since 2000. Currently. It is one of the top ophthalmologic disciplines in terms of medical care, scientific research and medical education.
The Department of Ophthalmology has 20 outpatient diagnosis rooms and 84 beds at the main campus, and another 47 day surgery beds and outpatient services at Yongning Branch Campus. The Department has subspecialties of retina, pediatric ophthalmology, glaucoma, cataract, corneal disease, orbital disease, eye plastic surgery, lacrimal disease and neuro-ophthalmology, a Refractive Surgery Center and an Optometry Center. With its state-of-the-art diagnostics and treatment equipment, the Department is capable of variety of ophthalmic surgeries, including micro-incision cataract phacoemulsification and intraocular lens implantation, corneal transplant surgery, micro-invasive vitreoretinal surgery, various antiglaucoma surgery and orthopedic surgery, besides the routine strabismus surgery and orbital diseases surgery, corneal and intraocular refractive surgery.
Based on the principle of bringing the best surgical effect and visual quality to all kinds of cataract patients, the Cataract & Lens Disease Group has carried out various types of cataract surgeries, in particular, refractive cataract surgery, femtosecond laser-assisted cataract surgery and a variety of complex cataract surgeries. While it has the first-class examination and surgical equipment necessary for refractive cataract surgery, it also has professional and meticulous medical and biometric inspection teams, which make it leading in cataract surgery in China. Microincision (1.8-2.0 mm) phacoemulsification has become a routine operation for cataract surgery in our hospital. In addition to conventional monofocal intraocular lens (IOL) implantation, astigmatic IOLs have been routinely performed. Presbyopia correction includes application of a variety of multifocal and EDOF IOLs. The group is also good at the treatment of various other lens diseases such as congenital cataract, traumatic cataract, lens dislocation and aphakia. Our cataract team has taken the lead in exploring the clinical pathway of cataract, and vigorously carried out cataract day surgery, which largely alleviated the problem of difficulty in medical treatment and hospitalization.
The clinical and basic research work of Cornea, Ocular Surface and Refractive Surgery Group has been recognized by peers all over the country, and it is a member unit of national professional group. This sub-specialty began to carry out corneal transplantation in 1960s, and can carry out penetrating, lamellar, lamellar joint penetrating, corneal transplantation combined with intraocular surgery and other corneal transplantation operations. At present, the diagnosis level of infectious keratopathy and ocular surface disease, as well as the therapeutic effect and quantity of keratoplasty are in the advanced level in China and the leading level in Southwest China. It has carried out corneal refractive surgery since 1984 and intraocular refractive lens implantation since 2011. The clinical and basic research of both corneal and intraocular refractive surgery is at the first-class level in China and taking a leading role in southwestern China.
The Glaucoma Group was founded in the 1980s. In recent years, it has developed a large number of advanced examination methods and treatment technologies, such as computer perimetry, HRT, OCT OCTA, UBM, anterior chamber gonioscopy, stereoscopic optical nerve analysis, and Goldmann tonometer, etc. In 2011, the group pioneered in setting up day-care unit for glaucoma in China. In recent years, it has explored various routines and difficult glaucoma operations, such as SLT, Goniosynechialysis under gonioscope, 360 ° trabecular surgery, CLASS surgery, etc. The glaucoma medical technology team is a strong squad, and has obtained 9 National Natural Science Foundation of China, 30 provincial and ministerial level projects, with a total funding of about 10 million RMB. It is responsible for 9 National multi-center GCP projects, acting as PI in some. It is at the advanced level in China not only in the clinical diagnosis and treatment of glaucoma technology and scientific research.
Optometry and Pediatric Ophthalmology Group is a strong professional team. It currently carries out the diagnosis and treatment of strabismus and amblyopia, the diagnosis and treatment of various children's eye diseases, the correction of children's refractive errors, the fitting of orthokeratology and RGP, and amblyopia treatment, vision training, children’s myopia prevention and control, and clinical medical and clinical research work for children's eye care. The professional and technical level is leading in the country and in line with international standards.
At present, the group has specialty clinics such as pediatric ophthalmology clinics, children’s myopia clinics, and contact lens clinics. This professional group has rich experience in diagnosis and treatment of various difficult and complicated specialized diseases such as special types of strabismus, refractory amblyopia, and nystagmus. For many complicated types of strabismus, difficult strabismus with multiple failed surgeries, paralytic strabismus, and various restricted strabismus, the optimal surgical scheme can be designed to complete the difficult surgery and obtain good treatment results.
At present, the specialty treatments include: micro-invasive strabismus surgery, painless strabismus surgery, ocular muscle surgery at early age (6 months after birth) and venerable age (over 80 years old), comprehensive rehabilitation treatment of nystagmus, and vertical strabismus. Surgical treatment of restrictive strabismus, treatment and rehabilitation of central eye movement and visual dysfunction.
The Orbital Diseases, Eye Plastic Surgery, and Eye Tumor Group is the earliest set up in China to explore integrated clinical management and basic research of thyroid-related ophthalmopathy. Its clinical strengths include complex extraocular plastic surgery for congenital and traumatic extraocular malformations, extraocular malformations due to tumor removal, orbital fracture, facial cosmesis and rejuvenation, and minimally invasive lacrimal duct surgery. It stresses a multi-disciplinary approach to orbital and intraocular tumor treatment by upgrading conventional surgery for retinoblastoma, orbital lymphoma, choroidal melanoma and other eye malignancies to integrated therapies guided by findings of pathological, radiological and biomarker studies. It adopts the non-contact resection technique for treating superficial ocular tumors including neoplasms in the conjunctiva and eyelids, which is a leading procedure in China that effectively removes the tumor while maximally preserving the extraocular structure and functions.
The Vitreous and Retina Group has always been in the leading position since it is the forerunner of fundus angiography and laser photocoagulation for the diagnosis and treatment of vitreoretinal diseases in China. In the 1980s, it proposed and founded the Vitreous and Retina Committee, and acted as its founding chief unit. It also launched the Chinese Journal of Ocular Fundus Diseases, a Chinese core journal and one of the Statistics Sources, also being included by Chemical Abstracts (of USA), the JICSI database and the Chinese Science Citation Database. With the development of retina subspecialty, it archived outstanding progress in both lab research and clinical trials. For example, it is the first ophthalmology department in China to explore the anti-VEGF agent by dominating the preclinical and phase I-III clinical trials of Conbercept which is the innovative anti-VEGF fusion protein fully produced in China. With the support of the 13th Five-year national major special projects, it is developing the artificial vitreous and carried out many clinical trials of a variety of domestic and foreign medications. Regarding to the innovative clinical treatments, it is the very first center in the Asia-Pacific region to perform photodynamic laser therapy in 2000, and micro invasive vitreous and retina surgeries in 2011 in China.
