Brief Introduction of Guangdong Provincial People’s Hospital

Founded in 1946 and formerly known as Guangzhou Central Hospital, Guangdong Provincial People’s Hospital is a top-tier Grade A tertiary public general hospital in South China, affiliated to Guangdong Academy of Medical Sciences and Southern Medical University. Centered on the Guangdong Cardiovascular Institute (GCI) established in 1958, it is designated as the National Regional Medical Center for Cardiovascular Diseases co-built by the National Health Commission and Guangdong Provincial Government, as well as the world’s only WHO Western Pacific Region Collaborating Center for Cardiovascular Disease Prevention and Control. Both its Department of Cardiology and Department of Cardiac and Great Vessel Surgery are National Key Clinical Specialties, consistently ranking among China’s top 5–6 cardiovascular disciplines in national specialty rankings. Authorized for full-spectrum solid organ transplantation including heart, lung, liver and kidney, the hospital runs nearly 2,900 inpatient beds and multiple branch campuses including Huifu and Pingzhou. With over six decades of disciplinary development, its cardiovascular center has formed an integrated MDT treatment system combining minimally invasive interventional cardiology and surgical cardiac care, delivering full-cycle management covering congenital heart disease in infants, severe heart failure in the elderly, great vessel disorders and heart transplantation.

I. Department of Cardiology (National Key Clinical Specialty, ranked 6th nationwide)

Established alongside Guangdong Cardiovascular Institute in 1958, the department serves as one of the national quality control and training bases certified by the National Health Commission for three core interventional fields: coronary artery disease, cardiac arrhythmia and congenital heart disease intervention. It has eight subspecialties: coronary heart disease, arrhythmia, hypertension, structural heart disease, adult congenital heart disease, heart failure, large artery disease and cardiac rehabilitation. Equipped with 292 inpatient beds including 17 CCU critical care beds, over 72% of its physicians hold senior professional titles with a complete cohort of doctoral and master supervisors. The department registers over 300,000 outpatient visits and 17,000 hospital admissions annually, and its annual volume of cardiac interventional procedures ranks first in South China.

Core Clinical Advantages

1. Complex Coronary Intervention: A pioneer of 24-hour emergency chest pain pathway for acute myocardial infarction in China. Expertise focuses on high-risk PCI for left main lesions, severely calcified coronary arteries and chronic total occlusion (CTO). Routine procedures include rotational atherectomy, excimer laser plaque ablation and ECMO-supported high-risk coronary revascularization, with around 6,000 coronary interventions performed per year. It receives numerous referred complicated coronary cases nationwide.
2. Minimally Invasive Ablation for Arrhythmia: One of China’s earliest zero-fluoroscopy 3D electrophysiology centers. Its original nanosecond pulsed-field atrial fibrillation ablation research has been published in top journals including JACC and presented as landmark studies at ESC Annual Congress. More than 3,400 ablation operations are completed yearly for atrial fibrillation, organic ventricular tachycardia and complex postoperative atrial tachycardia. It pioneered zero-radiation ablation for arrhythmia in pregnant patients and leads South China in left atrial appendage occlusion and physiological His-Purkinje pacing implantation.
3. Interventional Therapy for Structural Heart Disease: An early adopter of TAVR, transcatheter mitral clip repair and percutaneous pulmonary valve replacement in South China. One-stop closure for atrial/ventricular septal defects in children and adults is routinely performed, alongside hybrid valve procedures in collaboration with cardiac surgery. It set up China’s first specialized ward for adult congenital heart disease and has accomplished multiple world-first and domestic-first interventional techniques for pulmonary hypertension and emergent pulmonary embolism thrombectomy.
4. Heart Failure & Chronic Disease Management: A full-cycle management system for refractory heart failure integrates device implantation (CRT, ICD), pharmacotherapy and cardiac rehabilitation. The department is a regional benchmark for intractable hypertension and inherited cardiomyopathy, supported by provincial key laboratories for coronary disease and cardiovascular pharmacology to boost clinical translational research.

II. Department of Cardiac and Great Vessel Surgery (National Key Clinical Specialty, ranked 3rd nationwide)

One of China’s earliest institutions qualified to confer master’s and doctoral degrees in cardiac surgery and a national training base for minimally invasive cardiac surgery. In 2025, the department completed 7,049 cardiac operations with a high case complexity index (CMI) of 11.44, including 159 heart transplants accounting for 13.5% of China’s annual total. Its annual heart transplant volume has ranked top three nationwide for consecutive years, placing it among the world’s top ten heart transplant centers. It is South China’s core referral center for complex pediatric congenital heart defects, acute Type A aortic dissection and end-stage heart failure requiring transplantation.

Core Clinical Advantages

1. Heart Transplantation & Ventricular Assist Devices: Routinely performs orthotopic heart transplantation, ABO-incompatible heart transplantation and fast-track extubation-free transplant surgery, including rare heart replacement for situs inversus totalis patients. Left ventricular assist device (VAD) implantation as a bridge-to-transplant is well-established for patients with cardiac malignancy and end-stage refractory heart failure, and heart transplantation for nonagenarian patients is regularly conducted.
2. Minimally Invasive Valvular & Coronary Surgery: A domestic pioneer of totally thoracoscopic off-pump native valve repair, achieving a far higher native mitral/tricuspid repair rate than national average; over 90% of minimally invasive cardiac surgeries are blood-transfusion-free with short postoperative hospital stay. Minimally invasive small-incision CABG, total arterial off-pump bypass and Da Vinci robotic coronary surgery are mature, with outstanding experience in repeat bypass for in-stent restenosis and high-risk elderly patients.
3. Leading Great Vessel Surgery in South China: Standardized complex procedures include Sun’s procedure (total arch replacement plus frozen elephant trunk), Bentall, David and thoracoabdominal aortic replacement for Type A aortic dissection, with over one thousand annual hybrid and endovascular aortic aneurysm repairs. Awarded Guangdong Provincial Government Quality Prize, the department receives emergent referrals of ruptured aortic dissection across South China with perioperative mortality below international average level.
4. Congenital Heart Disease Surgery (National Benchmark): Led by Professor Zhuang Jian, the team completed the world’s first intrapartum fetal cardiac surgery and China’s first in-utero fetal cardiac intervention. It delivers full-lifespan corrective surgery from fetus, neonate, infant to adult, specializing in complex cyanotic congenital heart defects and conjoined twin cardiac malformations. China’s first dedicated unit for adult congenital heart disease combined with severe pulmonary hypertension realizes one-step repair for complex combined malformations.
5. Integrated Hybrid Surgical System: Equipped with multiple international-standard hybrid operating rooms to deliver one-stop combined interventional-surgical procedures for complex valvular lesions and combined coronary-aortic diseases, minimizing surgical trauma and perioperative risks for elderly patients with multiple comorbidities.

III. Comprehensive Disciplinary Features

The cardiovascular division adheres to integrated clinical practice, education and research with three provincial key cardiovascular labs and China’s first cardiovascular 3D-printing translational lab. 3D printing and VR preoperative modeling are widely applied for surgical planning of complex cardiac anomalies. It hosts the annual South China Cardiovascular Congress (SCC) and undertakes hundreds of national research projects, cultivating more than half of South China’s cardiovascular practitioners. It serves both as a premier treatment hub for intractable cardiovascular disorders and a major talent-training base covering the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and entire South China.