The Department of Cardiovascular Surgery at our hospital was established in 1957, making it one of the earliest institutions in Guangzhou to perform cardiothoracic surgeries. Since performing its first open-heart surgery under cardiopulmonary bypass in 1960, the department has developed comprehensive surgical and integrated treatments for various cardiovascular diseases. These include corrective surgeries for congenital heart disease, heart valve replacement and repair, coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG), off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting (OPCAB), left ventricular outflow tract reconstruction for hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy, surgical and hybrid procedures for major vascular diseases, modified maze procedures for atrial fibrillation, complex redo cardiac surgeries, and heart transplantation. In particular, the outcomes of coronary artery bypass grafting have reached nationally leading levels. The department successfully performed off-pump CABG on a 93-year-old patient, setting a national record for the oldest patient undergoing successful bypass surgery. Since successfully initiating heart transplantation in 2016, the department has completed dozens of such procedures. In 2017, it launched ECMO air rescue services in the Pearl River Delta region. In recent years, the department has also introduced totally endoscopic cardiac surgeries and minimally invasive occlusion techniques for congenital heart disease, significantly improving therapeutic outcomes.
The Department of Cardiovascular Surgery boasts strong technical expertise, extensive clinical experience, remarkable research achievements, a vibrant academic atmosphere, a healthy departmental culture, and excellent medical ethics. It serves as a National Resident Training Base and a Specialist Physician Training Base of Sun Yat-sen University. The department currently has 4 Professors/Chief Physicians, 2 Associate Chief Physicians, 6 Attending Physicians, and 12 Resident Physicians. It includes 3 doctoral supervisors and 3 master's supervisors, with several members having completed postdoctoral fellowships or advanced training in Europe. The department is led by Professor Zheng Junmeng, who is highly reputed in the field of heart transplantation, among other areas.
Currently, the department operates one general ward and one Cardiovascular Surgery ICU in both the South and North campuses (totaling four wards), along with a hybrid operating room. It has 80 open beds and 16 ICU beds, performing approximately 600 major cardiac and vascular surgeries annually. The department is equipped with advanced life support and monitoring devices, including 4 extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) units, among which is the state-of-the-art Cardiohelp portable ECMO system; 2 intra-aortic balloon pumps (IABP); 10 ventilators (including 2 transport ventilators); 4 non-invasive ventilators; 3 high-frequency oxygen therapy devices; 2 Edwards cardiac output monitoring systems; 2 blood gas analyzers; ACT monitors; 4 multifunctional monitoring and defibrillation systems; and 3 color cardiac ultrasound systems.