The Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine consists of 6 medical care units, including the respiratory ward, the comprehensive respiratory ward, the tuberculosis ward, the respiratory ICU, and the respiratory wards in Wenjiang and Shangjin. There are a total of 292 beds in the Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, which makes it one of the largest in China. It is equipped with Lung Function Test Lab, Respiratory Endoscopy Center, Sleep Medical Center, Lung Cancer Center, etc. Our Respiratory Laboratory is an important member of the National Key Laboratories of Biotherapy and the “985” Platform of Ministry of Education of China.
There are nearly 300 staff members in our department, including 47 doctors. Of them, there are 24 professors and/or chief physicians, 9 associate professors and/or associate chief physicians, 11 doctoral advisors and 8 master supervisors. The Department has established close partnerships with the departments of respiratory and critical care medicine affiliated to University hospitals in the United States, Germany, Britain, Canada, Australia, etc.
There are about 120, 000 out-patient visits and more than 10, 000 in-patients visits to our department every year. The diseases mainly involve in internal and common respiratory illnesses including pneumonia, chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases, pulmonary heart disease, asthma, respiratory failure, acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), lung cancer, pneumothorax, pleural effusion, pulmonary thromboembolism, etc.; the diagnosis and treatment of intractable diseases, such as diffuse interstitial lung disease (ILD) and pulmonary cystic fibrosis, rank the top level in West China. In 2007, the first lung transplantation in West China was conducted in cooperation with the Department of Thoracic Surgery, and 10-20 cases have been completed annually in recent years. In 2015, the first case of bronchial thermoplasty was conducted in the southwestern region of China, providing a new treatment for the patients with severe refractory asthma. In 2018, bronchoscopic thermal vapor ablation (BTVA) for advanced emphysema was firstly conducted, which was at a leading level in Asia. Since then, physicians from Singapore, India, Malaysia and other countries have been visiting and studying in our Department.
“Care and Service” is the tenet of West China Hospital. “Breathing freely” is our goal! All medical staff in our department will, as always, help patients recover and stay healthy through our excellent services.
Respiratory Critical Illness and Respiratory Therapy: The unit provides patients with respiratory failure and/or requiring mechanical ventilation with respiratory support and other life supports inside and outside the hospital, based on the Respiratory Ward, the Tuberculosis Ward, MICU, and the Respiratory Support Therapy Center. Equipped with advanced clinical diagnosis and treatment devices, we conduct routinely invasive/non-invasive mechanical ventilation, tracheoscopy, respiratory physiology monitoring, respiratory therapy process monitoring and effectiveness evaluation, hemodynamic monitoring, artificial airway management, utilization of special medical gases, respiratory rehabilitation, extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) and other advanced operations.
Asthma and Cough: The Asthma and Cough Clinic for severe refractory asthma, and chronic intractable cough, is the first one of its kind established in China. Multidimensional assessment using multidisciplinary team (MDT) dramatically improves overall asthma control and the life quality of cough. In terms of asthma heterogeneity, we innovatively proposed the concepts of phenotype overlap and neuropsychological asthma, and issued the first evidence-based guideline of allergic asthma in the world. Furthermore, in West China area, we firstly applied the bronchial thermoplasty (BT) as a novel treatment of patients with severe asthma who continue to be symptomatic despite maximal medical treatment. As one of the CHEST Expert Cough Panel for Treatment of unexplained chronic cough CHEST Guideline, we firstly used “the Speech Pathology Therapy” to improve chronic refractory cough in China.
Pulmonary Vascular Disease (PVD): The Department is the trailblazer in China in establishing venous thromboembolism (VTE) prevention and treatment system with “multidisciplinary collaboration and integrated medical care”. In April 2019, it became one of the first 10 outstanding hospitals in China in preventing and treating VTE. Here, the first cohort and clinical database of patients of pulmonary embolism in West China was established. A series of studies on VTE risk assessment tools have been a foundation for using the Caprini scale to assess VTE risk of patients in China. The Department took the lead in China in adopting VTE prevention and treatment model, reducing the death rate of acute pulmonary embolism from 30% to 4.5% within the hospital.
Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD): It is the first one in China to introduce the concept of Integrated Western and Chinese Medicine in treating CODP and pulmonary heart disease, which has been proved effectively in treating acute exacerbation of COPD (AECOPD). Here, non-invasive ventilation has first been used in China to treat COPD patients with type II respiratory failure since 1990s. Besides, it took the lead in introducing and launching new forced oscillation technology (FOT) in China. As an initiator, the Department has presided over the project of appropriate and practical Techniques for COPD in Australian National Health and Medical Research Council collaborating with developing countries. Furthermore, as the member of Global Initiative for chronic obstructive lung disease (GOLD), we actively promote the COPD management in China. The team has published over 100 academic papers on top journals including Lancet, Lancet Respir Med, etc., many of which have been cited by NEJM, Lancet, AJRCCM and GOLD guidelines.
Tuberculosis Subspecialty: The unit is mainly engaged in the diagnosis of difficult tuberculosis, treatment of refractory tuberculosis and non-tuberculous mycobacteria, interventional treatment of bronchial tuberculosis, diagnosis and treatment of extrapulmonary tuberculosis using multidisciplinary team, prediction and management of serious adverse reactions of anti-tuberculosis drugs, etc. Now, there are 32 exclusive beds, and 8 to 9 times per week for expert outpatient clinics from tuberculosis specialists. Every year nearly 20,000 patients visit tuberculosis outpatient clinics in requiring diagnosis and treatment from all over the country, as well as from South Korea, India, Myanmar and other southeast Asian countries. Nearly one third of the patients are Tibetans from the south-western and the north-western China.
Respiratory Rehabilitation: The team is a Certified training Base for PCCM Respiratory Rehabilitation Specialist Physician/Nurse Training. With the introduction of update rehabilitation technologies and models from Europe, the United States and Hong Kong, combining with Traditional Chinese Medicine rehabilitation methods, it forms a specialty-oriented, disease-focused, and technology-specialized rehabilitation model. It's very experienced in early and home respiratory rehabilitation services for patients with chronic respiratory diseases, early respiratory rehabilitation services for critically ill patients, and lung function assessment and management of perioperative high-risk patients.
Respiratory Infection: With advanced treatment technology, the team is leading in China in terms of diagnosis and treatment of various complicated and severe pulmonary infections. It is the center of difficult and severe diagnosis and treatment of respiratory infection in western China. The point-of-care procalcitonin (PCT) test and intervention-based microbiological detection platform such as biochip detection have been carried out, providing a basis for early diagnosis and treatment of pulmonary infection.
