Professor Zhan Qingyuan: Respiratory Critical Care Expert in Beijing

Professor Zhan Qingyuan: Respiratory Failure and Critical Care Specialist

Professor Zhan Qingyuan is a senior respiratory and critical-care physician, chief physician, professor, and doctoral supervisor at China-Japan Friendship Hospital in Beijing. His clinical work focuses on severe respiratory disease, acute and chronic respiratory failure, mechanical ventilation, acute respiratory distress syndrome, and complex intensive-care management.

He has extensive experience with non-invasive ventilation, difficult weaning from mechanical ventilation, severe pneumonia, airway management, and multidisciplinary care for critically ill respiratory patients.

For an overview of the hospital, see our China-Japan Friendship Hospital international patient guide. Patients researching severe lung infection can also read our profile of Professor Cao Bin, while those with chronic obstructive lung disease can review Professor Wang Chen.

Clinical Specialties

Professor Zhan’s principal clinical areas include:

• acute respiratory failure;
• chronic respiratory failure with acute deterioration;
• acute respiratory distress syndrome;
• severe pneumonia;
• non-invasive and invasive mechanical ventilation;
• difficult ventilator weaning;
• critical illness affecting the lungs;
• airway and secretion management; and
• second opinions for complex respiratory intensive-care cases.

Acute Respiratory Failure

Acute respiratory failure occurs when the lungs cannot provide enough oxygen, remove sufficient carbon dioxide, or both. Causes include severe pneumonia, COPD exacerbation, asthma, pulmonary edema, pulmonary embolism, neuromuscular weakness, chest-wall disease, and acute respiratory distress syndrome.

Assessment may include oxygen saturation, arterial blood gases, chest imaging, lung ultrasound, heart evaluation, microbiological testing, and review of organ function. Treatment must address both breathing support and the underlying cause.

Severe breathlessness, blue lips, confusion, exhaustion, or a rapidly falling oxygen level requires immediate local emergency care.

Non-Invasive Ventilation

Non-invasive ventilation provides breathing support through a mask rather than a tube in the windpipe. It can be highly effective in selected patients, particularly during COPD exacerbation with carbon-dioxide retention and certain cases of cardiogenic pulmonary edema.

Success depends on correct patient selection, mask fit, pressure settings, monitoring, secretion control, and a timely decision to intubate if the patient worsens. Delayed intubation can be harmful when non-invasive support is failing.

Professor Zhan has contributed to research and clinical standardization related to non-invasive respiratory support.

Invasive Mechanical Ventilation

Invasive ventilation is delivered through an endotracheal or tracheostomy tube. It may be required when a patient cannot maintain oxygenation, ventilation, airway protection, or adequate breathing effort.

Ventilator settings should be adjusted according to lung mechanics, blood gases, patient comfort, and the underlying disease. Potential complications include ventilator-associated pneumonia, lung injury, delirium, weakness, airway injury, and difficulty separating from the ventilator.

Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome

Acute respiratory distress syndrome, or ARDS, is a severe inflammatory lung injury that can follow infection, aspiration, trauma, pancreatitis, or another major illness. It causes widespread impairment of oxygen exchange.

Management may include lung-protective ventilation, prone positioning, careful fluid management, treatment of the cause, prevention of complications, and extracorporeal support in selected refractory cases.

No single intervention is suitable for every patient. Treatment evolves according to oxygenation, circulation, lung mechanics, imaging, and organ function.

Difficult Weaning from Mechanical Ventilation

Some patients remain dependent on mechanical ventilation after the original illness begins to improve. Causes can include respiratory-muscle weakness, unresolved infection, heart failure, excess fluid, malnutrition, delirium, airway problems, sleep-related breathing disorder, or inadequate rehabilitation.

A structured weaning assessment may include spontaneous-breathing trials, diaphragm evaluation, secretion management, swallowing assessment, nutrition, rehabilitation, and psychological support.

Tracheostomy may help selected patients requiring prolonged ventilation, but timing and expected benefit should be individualized.

Severe Pneumonia and Sepsis

Severe pneumonia may cause respiratory failure and sepsis. Management can involve antimicrobial treatment, pathogen testing, oxygen or ventilation, fluid and blood-pressure support, prevention of blood clots, nutrition, and treatment of complications.

When a patient does not improve, the team should reconsider the pathogen, antimicrobial resistance, drug dosing, immune status, source control, and possible non-infectious diagnoses.

Research and Clinical Contributions

Professor Zhan’s academic work includes respiratory support, mechanical ventilation, severe respiratory disease, and the organization of respiratory critical-care medicine. Research in this field aims to improve survival while reducing ventilator-related injury and long-term disability.

Published protocols are not substitutes for bedside reassessment. Ventilator and oxygen strategies must be adapted to the patient’s current physiology.

Who May Consider a Consultation?

A consultation with Professor Zhan or the China-Japan Friendship Hospital respiratory critical-care team may be worth considering when a patient:

• has severe acute or chronic respiratory failure;
• requires prolonged non-invasive or invasive ventilation;
• is difficult to wean from a ventilator;
• has ARDS or severe pneumonia with complications;
• has repeated intensive-care admissions for respiratory disease;
• has complex airway or secretion-management problems;
• needs a second opinion on tracheostomy or long-term ventilation; or
• requires multidisciplinary recovery planning after critical illness.

Medical Records to Prepare

International patients or families should prepare:

• a concise medical summary and day-by-day critical-care timeline;
• chest CT and X-ray images in original DICOM format;
• arterial blood gases and oxygenation trends;
• ventilator settings, waveforms, and weaning-trial results;
• microbiology, antibiotic-sensitivity, and bronchoscopy results;
• echocardiography and cardiovascular assessments;
• kidney, liver, coagulation, nutrition, and inflammatory-marker results;
• tracheostomy, airway, and swallowing records;
• rehabilitation and muscle-strength assessments; and
• a clear list of current decisions requiring specialist review.

For an inpatient second opinion, the current treating team should provide the latest vital signs, organ support, medications, and recent clinical changes.

Planning an International Consultation

Critically ill or ventilator-dependent patients may be unsafe to transfer. Any transfer requires direct coordination between medical teams, assessment of transport risk, appropriate escort and equipment, and confirmation that the receiving hospital accepts the patient.

Remote medical-record review is subject to physician authorization and may be more appropriate than travel during critical illness. It does not replace the current bedside team or emergency decisions.

How CMCS Can Assist

CMCS – China Medical Concierge Shanghai is an independent medical concierge and health management company, not a hospital. We assist international patients and families with organizing and translating intensive-care records, identifying an appropriate specialist, requesting remote or in-person review availability, arranging interpretation, and planning medical travel when clinically appropriate.

Access to Professor Zhan, remote review, hospital transfer, intensive-care admission, or any particular treatment is subject to the doctor’s and hospital’s approval. CMCS does not guarantee acceptance, admission, transfer safety, treatment eligibility, or clinical outcomes.

For assistance, contact CMCS:

• Email: contract@medicalsh.com
• WhatsApp: Contact us on WhatsApp
• Website: www.medicalsh.com

Important Note

Doctor titles, clinical roles, treatment availability, intensive-care admission, and transfer arrangements may change. Patients should confirm current information directly before travel. This profile is provided for general information only. It is not individual medical advice and does not replace the patient’s current critical-care team.