1. Overview
The Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery at Children’s Hospital of Fudan University is one of the earliest established pediatric cardiothoracic surgery majors in China, founded by Professor Shantong Zhang in 1979. Under the leadership of former directors Zhanggen Chen and Bing Jia, the department has continuously grown and made significant progress in discipline construction, talent cultivation, and social services over the past 30 years. The department has a complete brand team of cardiothoracic surgery, cardiopulmonary bypass, ECMO, intensive care unit and nursing, which is a national clinical key specialty. The department has performed over 20000 pediatric cardiovascular surgeries so far, with a success rate of over 99%. Extensive cooperation was established with internationally renowned institutions such as Maine Heart Center in the United States, Chicago Children's Hospital, Vancouver Children's Hospital in Canada, and Hong Kong Children's Hospital, which has significantly improved the clinical business capabilities of the department.
In recent years, the number of surgeries for children with chest diseases has significantly increased, with over 1000 cases of various cardiothoracic surgeries performed each year. Minimally invasive treatments are routinely performed for various chest diseases such as congenital cystic diseases of lung, chest wall deformities, chest tumors, and diaphragmatic diseases. The department has accumulated rich clinical experience in the treatment of various congenital heart diseases, and has made breakthrough progress especially in the treatment of complex congenital heart diseases in newborns and infants. In addition, the department is leading in the field of reoperations of complex congenital heart diseases and correction of end-stage heart failure in China. Currently, the department has obtained the qualification for heart transplantation and has successfully carried out heart transplantation for children with end-stage heart failure. In recent years, the department has been dedicated to clinical research on pediatric valve surgery and has achieved good therapeutic results. Members of the department have presided over projects funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC), been honored with the Invention, Entrepreneurship and Innovation Award, and successfully obtained a number of patents.
The department undertakes the teaching tasks of Fudan University and the training of doctors in and outside the city. There are 16 in-service physicians, including 2 chief physicians, 5 associate chief physicians, and 2 master's supervisors. All doctors have doctoral and master's degrees, as well as overseas training experience.
The department currently has 35 approved beds for cardiothoracic surgery and 12 approved beds for cardiac intensive care unit. The nursing team provides high quality of preoperative and postoperative care for patient and families.
2. Test and Procedures
Our specialists in Cardiothoracic Surgery department not only treat children and adolescents with diseases and conditions but also work with teams of doctors trained in many areas to determine the most appropriate treatment for each child's needs.
We offer several treatments and procedures, including but not limited to those listed below.
Cardiac Surgery
(1) Surgical and minimally invasive closure treatment for various simple congenital heart diseases: ventricular septal defect, atrial septal defect, patent ductus arteriosus, etc.
(2) Surgical treatment of complex congenital heart diseases: TGA, tetralogy of Fallot, left ventricular dysplasia, single ventricle, complete atrioventricular septal detect, total anomalous pulmonary venous drainage, double ventricle outlet, persistent truncus arteriosus, coarctation of aorta, interrupted aortic arch, corrective transposition of large vessels, pulmonary atresia, Ebstein’s anomaly, etc.
(3) Surgical treatment of acquired heart disease such as Kawasaki disease and rheumatic heart disease.
(4) Conservative treatment and palliative surgical treatment of cardiomyopathy.
(5) Heart transplantation and implantation of ventricular assist devices (VAD).
Chest Surgery
(1) Surgical and minimally invasive endoscopic treatment for chest wall deformities such as pectus excavatum, pectus carinatum, sternoschisis, etc.
(2) Surgical and minimally invasive endoscopic treatment for congenital lung diseases such as congenital pulmonary airway malformation (CPAM), pulmonary sequestration, bronchial atresia, congenital lobar emphysema, pulmonary cyst, tracheal cyst, pulmonary bulla, etc.
(3) Surgical and minimally invasive endoscopic treatment for thoracic and mediastinal tumors such as neurogenic tumors, teratoma, mediastinal cysts, lymphangioma, pleuropulmonary blastoma, chest wall tumors, etc.
(4) Surgical and minimally invasive endoscopic treatment for diaphragmatic diseases such as diaphragmatic eventration and diaphragmatic hernia.
(5) Conservative and surgical treatment of pneumothorax, empyema, and chylothorax
3. Conditions Treated
Simple congenital heart diseases: ventricular septal defect, atrial septal defect, patent ductus arteriosus, etc.
Complex congenital heart diseases: TGA, tetralogy of Fallot, left ventricular dysplasia, single ventricle, complete atrioventricular septal detect, total anomalous pulmonary venous drainage, double ventricle outlet, persistent truncus arteriosus, coarctation of aorta, interrupted aortic arch, corrective transposition of large vessels, pulmonary atresia, Ebstein’s anomaly, etc.
Acquired heart disease: Kawasaki disease and rheumatic heart disease.
Cardiomyopathy and end-stage heart failure (VAD implantation, Heart transplantation)
Chest wall deformities: pectus excavatum, pectus carinatum, sternoschisis, etc.
Congenital lung diseases: congenital pulmonary airway malformation (CPAM), pulmonary sequestration, bronchial atresia, congenital lobar emphysema, pulmonary cyst, tracheal cyst, pulmonary bulla, etc.
Thoracic and mediastinal tumors: neurogenic tumors, teratoma, mediastinal cysts, lymphangioma, pleuropulmonary blastoma, chest wall tumors, etc.
Diaphragmatic diseases: diaphragmatic eventration and diaphragmatic hernia.
Others: pneumothorax, empyema, and chylothorax, etc.