Thoracic Surgery Department

　　Founded in 1951, the Thoracic Surgery Department was one of the few medical centers that could perform thoracic surgery at that time. Dr. Jizheng Zhang, one of the founders of Thoracic Surgery Department, performed the first pneumonectomy in China.

  Since then, Thoracic Surgery Department has made considerable progress in clinical care, teaching and research. The Department of Thoracic Surgery was awarded State Key Discipline of Thoracic Surgery by Ministry of Health in 2011, and ranked ninth among thoracic surgery departments of China sponsored by Hospital Management Institute, Fudan University in 2012. In 2018, the Department of Thoracic Surgery was awarded as the key clinical discipline of Tianjin.

　　Thoracic Surgery Department has 3 inpatient units (105 beds) and 1 ICU unit (15 beds). There are 76 staff members, including 10 professors and associate professors, 2 mentors for doctoral degree and 1 for master degree.

　　Tianjin Chest Hospital is affiliated to Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin University and Nankai University.1 postdoctoral scholar, 15 doctoral degree students and more than 50 master degree students have graduated from Thoracic Surgery Department in recent 10 years. More than 200 scientific papers were published.

　　Thoracic Surgery Department offers the highest level of expertise available in all areas of thoracic surgery, including lung cancer, esophageal cancer, mediastinal tumor, congenital diseases of lung and esophagus, esophageal motor function disorder etc. Variety of difficult surgeries were performed, including cervical trachea sleeve resection, carinal resection and reconstruction, thoracoscopic bronchial and pulmonary artery double sleeve resection, mediastinal tumor resection, superior vena cava resection and reconstruction, gastric remnant carcinoma resection and esophageal replacement with colon interposition, chest wall resection and reconstruction, simultaneous median thoracotomy CABG plus radical resection of lung cancer etc.

　　Featured with minimized invasion thoracic surgery (VATS), Thoracic Surgery Department has performed lobectomy, segmental resection, bronchial sleeve resection, mediastinal tumor resection, esophagectomy, enucleation of esophageal leiomyoma, sympathectomy for palmar hyperhidrosis by VATS. For the first time worldwide, Thoracic Surgery Department used VATS to treat giant pharyngo-esophageal diverticulum in 2012. Now, 80% of thoracic surgeries are performed by VATS. Thoracic Surgery Department usually hosts VATS Workshops 4 to 5 times annually. The workshops have become National Continuing Medical Education (CME) Program.

  Thoracic Surgery Department has been engaged in many cutting-edge technologies, such as excision of thymic cyst without pleural cavity involvement, hybrid surgery (aortic stents before thoracotomy) in the treatment of esophageal aortic fistula. Latest international technology was performed to treat traumatic esophagotracheal fistula successfully. Cervical tracheal tumor resection was performed under local anesthesia. Resection of huge lung cyst was carried out for newborn after congenital heart disease surgery. Since 2008, Nuss pectus orthosis has been conducted, which has now become the main hospital in Tianjin for mini invasive pectus excavatum. Cryotherapy of tracheal tumor and microwave ablation have achieved optimize clinical results. Abdominal Heller with modified Dor fundoplication for achalasia and transabdominal esophageal hiatus repair with partial fundoplication for hiatal hernia have achieved satisfactory clinical results.

  Under the background of the rapid development of big data and artificial intelligence, Thoracic Surgery Department has developed an artificial intelligence system for the diagnosis and treatment of pulmonary nodules in cooperation with LinkDoc Technology Co., LTD., covering preoperative diagnosis, surgical guidance and pathological diagnosis. In 2018, Tianjin Chest Hospital hosted the Tianjin Science and Technology Commission's major science and technology project "Construction of data platform for clinical application of artificial intelligence assisted diagnosis of pulmonary nodules and assisted decision system for diagnosis and treatment of lung Cancer". In July 2019, Thoracic Surgery Department was awarded as "Clinical application promotion base of artificial intelligence assisted lung cancer diagnosis and treatment system"; “Clinical application and database construction of artificial intelligence assisted pulmonary nodules diagnosis, assisted lung cancer diagnosis and treatment decision system” was selected as the top 30 cases of artificial intelligence application in medical and health care released by the Statistical Information Center of The National Health Commission. At present, the system has been promoted to the thoracic surgery department of many large-scale tertiary hospitals, and its preoperative diagnosis accuracy is up to 89-94%, which has reached the international leading level.

　　We hold conferences with surgeons and scientist from Australia, United State, Europe and other countries annually.