Brief Introduction of The First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat‑sen University

Founded in 1910 and originated from the affiliated hospital of Guangdong Medical School, The First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat‑sen University is a century-old top Grade A tertiary comprehensive public hospital based in Guangzhou and affiliated to Sun Yat‑sen University. It is a designated institution for the development of national pilot comprehensive medical centers and a provincial‑national co‑constructed National Regional Medical Center. It consistently achieves Grade A++ in national public hospital performance assessment and ranks among China’s top 10 in the Fudan China Hospital Ranking, standing as the leading comprehensive medical hub in South China.

The hospital runs three major campuses: Yuexiu Main Campus, Huangpu Campus and Nansha Campus, and participates in constructing regional medical centers via branch hospitals in Guangxi and Guizhou. It boasts 36 National Key Clinical Specialties and 5 National Key Disciplines and serves as the supporting institute of the National Big Data Center for Organ Transplantation. Its cardiovascular disciplines are flagship specialties of the hospital; both the Department of Cardiology and Department of Cardiac and Great Vessel Surgery are accredited as National Key Clinical Specialties and integrated into a unified Cardiovascular Medical Center. A full-spectrum treatment system covering minimally invasive interventional cardiology, open cardiac surgery and one-stop hybrid procedures has been established, receiving referrals of complicated and severe cardiovascular cases from South China, Hong Kong, Macao and across the whole country.

I. Department of Cardiology (National Key Clinical Specialty & National Certified Interventional Training Base)

Authorized as a national standardized training base for coronary and arrhythmia interventions, the department has obtained full certifications for National Chest Pain Center, Atrial Fibrillation Center, Heart Failure Center and Hypertension Center, and is listed as a high-level key specialty of Guangdong Province.

It has over 80 physicians including 45 senior specialists with well-structured doctoral and master supervisor teams, divided into six subspecialties: coronary intervention, arrhythmia & electrophysiology, structural heart disease, heart failure & cardiomyopathy, hypertension & metabolic cardiovascular disease, and cardiac rehabilitation. Equipped with a CCU ward and multiple international-standard cardiac catheter labs, it has introduced cutting-edge equipment including early-generation zero-fluoroscopy 3D electrophysiology mapping system and intravascular imaging tools (OCT & IVUS). Annual outpatient visits exceed 300,000 with more than 10,000 cardiac interventional operations each year.

Core Clinical Advantages

1. Complex Coronary Intervention: A 24-hour emergency green channel is available for acute myocardial infarction. Specialized in high-risk PCI for left main lesions, chronic total occlusion (CTO) and severely calcified coronary arteries, the department routinely performs rotational atherectomy, excimer laser ablation and ECMO-supported high-risk revascularization, with repeat intervention for in-stent restenosis as a featured strength. Precise intraoperative guidance via intracoronary imaging enables excellent success rates for complex coronary procedures.
2. Minimally Invasive Arrhythmia Ablation: One of South China’s early pioneers of zero-fluoroscopy 3D electrophysiology ablation for atrial fibrillation, organic ventricular tachycardia and complex postoperative atrial tachycardia via radiofrequency or cryoablation. Routine services include left atrial appendage occlusion, physiological His-Purkinje pacing, leadless pacemaker implantation and CRT/CRT-D placement for heart failure; non-invasive ablation for arrhythmia during pregnancy is well established.
3. Interventional Treatment for Structural Heart Disease: Mature technologies cover transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR), mitral valve-in-valve (MVIV) and transcatheter mitral clip repair, alongside one-stop closure of ASD, VSD, PFO and PDA. The department is a regional center for pulmonary hypertension and complex pulmonary vascular disorders, with leading expertise in interventional thrombectomy for critical pulmonary embolism.
4. Original Non-invasive Cardiac Therapy & External Counterpulsation (ECP): The birthplace of domestic external counterpulsation technology with proprietary intellectual property rights widely promoted globally. The department led the formulation of national guidelines and expert consensus on ECP and built an integrated full-cycle management model combining medication, device therapy and non-invasive rehabilitation for ischemic heart disease and heart failure, becoming a national benchmark for cardiac rehabilitation. It is also a regional authority for intractable hypertension, inherited and rare cardiomyopathies and runs a provincial specialized center for difficult cardiomyopathy cases.
5. Strong Translational Research: The department has undertaken over 150 cardiovascular clinical trials and launched nearly 60 clinical studies for new drugs and high-end Class III medical devices in the past three years, most of which are first-in-class domestic innovative products. Multiple clinical findings have been incorporated into domestic cardiovascular treatment guidelines.

II. Department of Cardiac and Great Vessel Surgery (National Key Clinical Specialty; Regional Center for Heart Transplant & Complex Cardiac Surgery in South China)

A time-honored cardiac surgery department in South China and one of China’s early institutions carrying out heart transplantation and complex pediatric congenital heart surgery. It completes around 1,500 cardiac operations annually, over 60% of which are complicated critical cases covering all age groups from newborns to elderly patients. It performed South China’s first pediatric heart transplant in 1996 and set the domestic record for the youngest combined heart-lung transplant recipient in 2007. It is a designated emergency center for acute aortic dissection, end-stage heart failure and complex congenital heart disease across South China.

Core Clinical Advantages

1. Heart Transplantation & Combined Organ Transplant: Routinely performs orthotopic heart transplantation, ABO-incompatible heart transplantation, combined heart-lung and heart-kidney transplantation. Pediatric heart transplant and heart transplant for nonagenarian patients with end-stage heart failure are regularly conducted. Left ventricular assist device (VAD) implantation as bridge-to-transplant therapy saves numerous patients with end-stage cardiomyopathy and refractory heart failure, ranking high in South China in treatment volume.
2. Minimally Invasive Valvular & Coronary Surgery: Totally thoracoscopic valve repair/replacement and Da Vinci robotic cardiac surgery are well developed with native mitral and tricuspid repair rates far above national average. Minimally invasive off-pump total arterial CABG with endoscopic vein harvesting (EVH) is standardized, with outstanding experience in redo bypass for occluded stents; the overall cure rate of valvular surgery exceeds 98%.
3. Leading Great Vessel Surgery in South China: Standardized complex procedures include Sun’s procedure (total arch replacement plus frozen elephant trunk), thoracoabdominal aortic replacement, hybrid aortic repair and full-endovascular stent grafting for aortic aneurysm. More than 300 combined surgical and endovascular treatments for aortic dissection have been completed. A 24-hour emergency pathway is available for ruptured aortic dissection with perioperative mortality lower than international average.
4. Congenital Heart Disease Surgery: Full-life-cycle corrective surgery spanning fetal assessment, neonatal, infant and adult congenital heart defects. The department invented an internationally original surgical technique of caval transection for total anomalous pulmonary venous drainage and excels in repair of complex cyanotic CHD, arterial switch operation and complete atrioventricular septal defect; minimally invasive small-incision CHD closure delivers less trauma and faster recovery.
5. One-stop Hybrid Cardiac Surgery: Supported by hybrid operating rooms, collaborative one-stop procedures combining interventional cardiology and open surgery are customized for patients with combined valvular, coronary and multi-segment aortic lesions to minimize surgical trauma and perioperative risks for elderly patients with multiple comorbidities.

III. Comprehensive Advantages of Cardiovascular Disciplines

The Cardiovascular Medical Center builds a closed-loop full-chain healthcare system ranging from disease prevention, outpatient consultation and interventional treatment to open surgery, critical care and cardiac rehabilitation. Backed by the Double First-Class clinical medicine discipline of Sun Yat‑sen University, it owns a complete training system for bachelor, master, doctor and postdoctoral fellows, hosts annual national continuing medical education courses and cultivates large numbers of cardiovascular specialists for South China. Supported by its provincial cardiovascular research institute, the center focuses on translational medicine and innovative medical device development, continuously leading the advancement of complicated cardiovascular care for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, South China and patients from Southeast Asia.