Department of Respiratory and Intensive Care Medicine
Department of Respiratory and Intensive Care Medicine

The Department of Respiratory Medicine was founded in the 1950s by Professor Zhang Senquan, a nationally renowned respiratory disease expert in China. As one of the earliest institutions in the country to conduct systematic research on bronchial asthma, our department contributed to the chapters on bronchial asthma in the first and second editions of the nationally standardized textbook Internal Medicine for higher medical education. We were also among the first respiratory medicine departments designated by the Ministry of Health to admit and train international students. We pioneered the identification of 48 common allergens in South China and initiated immunotherapy for bronchial asthma. Additionally, our department was among the first in South China to introduce pulmonary function testing and fiberoptic bronchoscopy, as well as to establish a Respiratory Intensive Care Unit (ICU). Our department is authorized to confer doctoral and master’s degrees in the discipline and hosts a postdoctoral research program. In May 2017, it was officially renamed the Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine. In 2018, it was recognized as an Outstanding Unit in the PCCM (Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine) Standardization Program.
Currently, the Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine is headed by Director Jiang Shanping. It comprises two respiratory wards, a Respiratory ICU, a Pulmonary Function Laboratory, a Bronchoscopy Room, a Medical Thoracoscopy Room, a Sleep Monitoring Room, and an Antibiotic Research Institute. The department employs 30 physicians, including 3 with senior professional titles, 7 with associate senior titles, 11 with intermediate titles, and 9 with junior titles. Among them, 13 hold doctoral degrees and 7 hold master’s degrees, forming a comprehensive talent structure ranging from professors to resident physicians. The department currently has 3 doctoral supervisors and 7 master’s supervisors, with 12 doctoral and master’s students enrolled.
At present, the Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine offers specialized respiratory clinics, professor-led consultations, and disease-specific outpatient services. Upholding a patient-centered approach, it enjoys an excellent reputation among the public. Notable experts include Professor Jiang Shanping, Professor Li Jianguo, and Professor Chen Rui.

 

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Featured Medical Technology

The Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine is tasked with the prevention and treatment of respiratory diseases. Over the past three years, it has admitted an average of more than 4,500 inpatients annually, recorded an annual outpatient volume of over 80,000 visits, and its Pulmonary Function Laboratory has conducted more than 6,000 pulmonary function tests each year. Currently, the department performs over 2,000 fiberoptic bronchoscopy examinations and therapeutic procedures on an annual basis.
The department boasts a domestically advanced level of comprehensive clinical strength and has conducted in-depth research on eosinophil-associated disorders. Its landmark achievements include:
1.Successfully treating the first domestic case of eosinophilic obliterative bronchiolitis and identifying that elevated carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) may serve as a biomarker of eosinophil activation under rare circumstances;
2.Rescuing a patient with eosinophilic leukemia who had been long misdiagnosed as severe asthma by other hospitals;
3.Saving a patient with Churg-Strauss syndrome presenting initially with acute myocardial infarction;
4.Managing a patient with acute eosinophilic pneumonia complicated by respiratory failure;
5.Taking the lead domestically in researching bronchial asthma combined with gastroesophageal reflux disease, and proving that acid reflux inhibition can reduce airway hyperresponsiveness and improve small airway function in asthmatic patients;
6.Being the first in China to report that simply inhibiting airway constriction can partially suppress airway remodeling in asthmatic patients;
7.Pioneering the domestic report that nebulized albuterol using isotonic magnesium sulfate solution as the diluent helps alleviate severe asthma;
8.Carrying out a series of studies on the efficacy of triptolide and cyclosporine in the treatment of refractory asthma;
9.Leading the world in researching exocrine pancreatic function in patients with acute exacerbation of chronic cor pulmonale, and discovering that reduced exocrine pancreatic function in these patients may contribute to malnutrition in some cases of acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (AECOPD);
10.Being the first in China to report that AECOPD patients with impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) have a poor prognosis;
11.Successfully treating the first case of acute fibrinous and organizing pneumonia (AFOP) complicated by respiratory failure in South China;
12.Rescuing patients with pulmonary vein obstruction;
13.Taking the lead domestically in researching lung diffusion function in diabetic patients, and finding that the ratio of diffusing capacity of the lung for carbon monoxide to alveolar volume (DLCO/VA) in diabetic patients is negatively correlated with the patients’ age, disease duration, and microangiopathy score, with the microangiopathy score being the only significant independent predictor of DLCO/VA impairment;
14.Pioneering the domestic exploration of the diagnostic value of argyrophilic nucleolar organizer region (AgNOR) staining in differentiating benign and malignant pleural effusions;
15.Taking the lead in China in summarizing diagnostic clues for dermatomyositis and polymyositis complicated by malignant tumors, and emphasizing that patients with these conditions in Guangdong should undergo routine screening for nasopharyngeal carcinoma.
The department has extensive experience in treating various immune-related lung diseases and interstitial lung disease complicated by pulmonary arterial hypertension associated with connective tissue diseases. It also possesses rich expertise in the diagnosis and treatment of various refractory, rare, and life-threatening infections, such as successfully treating a patient with severe H5N6 avian influenza virus pneumonia. Additionally, it was the first in China to propose that the severity of the disease, rather than bacterial drug resistance, is the most critical factor affecting the prognosis of infectious diseases. The relevant research was published in the authoritative American journal Diagnostic Microbiology & Infectious Disease (DOI: 10.1016/j.diagmicrobio.2014.06.015).
The department has conducted a series of studies on the prevention and treatment of respiratory complications in patients undergoing abdominal and cardiac surgeries. It is capable of performing all commonly used interventional procedures via respiratory endoscopy and conducting all types of pulmonary function tests. Its patient population comes from across the country, including Guangdong, Guangxi, Hunan, Hubei, Hainan, Yunnan, Guizhou, Sichuan, Henan, Anhui, Jiangxi, Fujian, Gansu, Qinghai, Xinjiang, as well as international regions such as Malaysia and Indonesia.

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Scientific Research Results

It was among the first respiratory medicine departments in institutions directly under the Ministry of Health designated to admit and train international students. The department currently has 3 doctoral supervisors and 7 master's supervisors, with 12 doctoral and master's students currently enrolled. It has trained over 10 doctoral graduates and more than 100 master's graduates for the nation, who are now distributed across the country and have gradually become key figures or discipline leaders in major hospitals. Additionally, the department accepts visiting physicians from respiratory departments nationwide and technicians from pulmonary function laboratories for advanced training.
The discipline places great emphasis on research work. Since the 1950s, it has conducted pulmonary function research on bronchial asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, making it one of the earliest units in China to engage in pulmonary function studies. In 1978, it established the etiology, pathogenesis, and prevention/treatment of bronchial asthma as the primary research direction of the respiratory department. Over the years, the department has secured 9 National Natural Science Foundation projects and over 40 provincial/ministerial-level projects. It has authored or contributed to 9 books or monographs, including the nationally standardized textbook Internal Medicine for higher medical education, Internal Medicine: Theory and Practice, The symptomatology section of the Medical Encyclopedia, Pulmonary Diseases, Concise Internal Medicine, SARS: Clinical and Radiographic Analysis, and Clinical Diagnosis and Differential Diagnosis of Internal Medicine Diseases. In recent years, the department has published more than 50 SCI-indexed papers.
Professor Jiang Shanping, the current department director and academic leader, holds the following positions: Member of the National Committee of the Internal Medicine Branch of the Chinese Medical Association; Chairman of the Internal Medicine Branch of the Guangdong Provincial Medical Association; Standing Committee Member of the Respiratory Branch of the Guangdong Provincial Medical Association; Standing Committee Member of the Respiratory Physicians Branch of the Guangdong Provincial Medical Association; Deputy Chairman of the Respiratory Medication Expert Committee of the Guangdong Provincial Pharmaceutical Association; Senior Editor of European Review for Medical and Pharmacological Sciences; Editorial Board Member of Seminars in Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine (Chinese Edition); Editorial Board Member of the Chinese Journal of Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases; Editorial Board Member of New Medicine; Editorial Board Member of Guangdong Medical Journal; and Editorial Board Member of the Journal of Clinical Pulmonary Medicine.

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