The Department of Cardiovascular Surgery of West China Hospital, Sichuan University was founded by Professor Yang Zhenhua and Professor Yang Jingguo, who returned to China in the early 1950s. It is one of the earliest centers of cardiovascular surgery founded in China. In 1957, the first cardiac surgery of the hospital was performed. In 1962, the Department started to perform open-heart cardiopulmonary surgeries. In 1978, the first batch of clinical medicine master's degree was authorized. In 1993, the Department was authorized to confer MD. In 1994, the first publication of Chinese Journal of Clinical Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery was issued. In 2006, it became a base for training specialists of cardiovascular surgery under the Ministry of Health. In 2007 and 2011, the Department was approved as the "National Key Discipline" by the Ministry of Health and the “National Clinical Key Specialty” of the Ministry of Health respectively.
Featured medical technologies: The Department receives over 40,000 outpatients and performs about 3,300 cardiovascular surgeries annually, taking the lead among peer facilities in similar areas. Cardiovascular surgeries performed include transapical aortic valve replacement (TAVR), heart transplantation, valvuloplasty and replacement, complex congenital heart disease and "hybrid" mosaic therapy in pediatric patients, minimally invasive occlusion of congenital heart disease, surgical ablation for atrial fibrillation, thoracoscopic minimally invasive cardiac surgery, coronary artery bypass grafting, open heart surgery, thoracic endovascular aortic repair（TEVAR）of aortic aneurysm and aortic dissection, and other heart disease surgeries.
A strong team of experts: The Department has a great force of expertise. The staff excels in clinical diagnosis and management and has achieved significant results in the field of scientific research by virtue of its strong academic environment, healthy working atmosphere and strict medical morality. Currently, the Department has 32 physicians, including 6 doctoral tutors, 16 master tutors, 7 chief physicians and 7 associate chief physicians. Professor Shi Yingkang served as the chairman of the Special Committee of Cardiovascular Surgery of the Sichuan Medical Association. Professor Zhang Eryong served as the vice-chairman of CMDA Cardiovascular Surgeon Society. Professor An Qi currently serves as the chairman of the Special Committee for Cardiovascular Thoracic Surgery of the Sichuan Medicine Association. Professor Guo Yingqiang serves as the chairman of the Young Experts Committee under CMDA Cardiovascular Society. The Department has 43 nurses, including 2 masters, 25 undergraduates, 7 chief nursing officers and 20 senior nurses. The Department highly values foreign exchange programs and the mutual nurturing of skills and cooperates with first-class hospitals in Canada, the U.S., Germany and HKSAR; and it has successively assigned middle-aged and young physicians and nurses to these sister hospitals for further study.
The Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, as the largest diagnosis and research center for cardiovascular diseases in Western China, has now grown into a sophisticated base for cardiovascular surgery, teaching & learning and scientific research, which actively promotes the improvement of cardiovascular surgery diagnosis and treatment in West China to improve people’s health and socioeconomic development.
