Medical Library | Shanghai Clinical Innovation Series
Fudan University Zhongshan Hospital is known not only for oncology, but also for major programs in interventional cardiology, structural heart disease, gastrointestinal endoscopy, inflammatory bowel disease, kidney transplantation, diabetes, respiratory medicine, critical care, and integrative neurology.
This Medical Library review summarizes eleven teams and clinical directions with reported 2025–2026 progress. The focus is on how each program addresses a practical clinical problem, while distinguishing verified research or clinical milestones from claims that still require confirmation through formal hospital announcements, publications, or regulatory sources.
1. Interventional Cardiology and the Heart Center: Engineering New Tools for High-Risk Care
Lead: Academician Ge Junbo
Focus: Coronary intervention, structural heart disease, heart failure, and ventricular assist devices.
The heart center is described as one of China's most active teams at the intersection of cardiovascular medicine and engineering. Its work combines catheter-based treatment, structural heart devices, mechanical circulatory support, and randomized clinical research.
- Polymer-valve TAVR: A first-in-human polymer-valve transcatheter aortic valve replacement was reported in August 2026.
- NyokAssist: An interventional pump program was presented as a TCT 2025 late-breaking study.
- PERSIST III: A multicenter randomized trial reported in the European Heart Journal in July 2026 compared an axial-flow pump with VA-ECMO in high-risk PCI.
- Expert consensus: Two consensus documents on extended catheters and redo-TAVR were published through the 2026 OCC program.
For patients, the practical question is whether a device or support strategy is appropriate for the anatomy, hemodynamic status, surgical risk, and hospital capabilities. Our related Heart Valve Disease Treatment in Shanghai Medical Library article and TAVI/TAVR in Shanghai guide provide broader background.
Clinical profile: An interdisciplinary cardiovascular program connecting original device development, catheter treatment, and high-risk circulatory support.
2. Coronary Imaging and Physiology: Less Invasive Assessment of the Microcirculation
Lead: Professor Li Chenguang
Focus: Coronary artery disease, coronary microcirculation, chronic total occlusion, and intravascular imaging.
The AccuIMR system was reported in the TOPS 2025 program as a wire-free approach to evaluating coronary microvascular resistance. Conventional physiological assessment may require specialized invasive equipment. A wire-free or less-instrumented method could make coronary physiology easier to integrate into routine decision-making, if accuracy and clinical utility are confirmed.
Patients should ask how the measurement was validated against an accepted reference method, whether it changes treatment decisions, and whether the result applies to epicardial disease, microvascular angina, or both. A new measurement is clinically valuable only if it improves diagnosis, treatment selection, or outcomes.
Clinical profile: A coronary physiology program focused on reducing procedural complexity and moving functional assessment toward less invasive practice.
3. Structural Heart Disease: New Anchoring and Simplified Left Atrial Appendage Closure
Leads: Professors Zhou Daxin and Pan Wenzhi
Focus: Valve disease, congenital heart disease, and left atrial appendage closure.
The NCPI-Plus TAVR anchoring technology was reported in JACC: Asia in August 2026. A clinical pathway consensus for simplified left atrial appendage closure was published in September 2025.
Structural heart procedures depend on careful imaging, anatomical measurements, device selection, anticoagulation assessment, and post-procedure follow-up. An anchoring innovation may be especially relevant when valve anatomy makes stable positioning difficult, but it still requires evidence about safety, durability, paravalvular leak, conduction problems, stroke risk, and reintervention.
Similarly, a simplified left atrial appendage closure pathway should not be interpreted as a one-size-fits-all procedure. Stroke risk, bleeding risk, atrial fibrillation history, appendage anatomy, and the feasibility of long-term antithrombotic treatment must all be considered.
Clinical profile: A structural heart team combining original devices with procedural pathways that aim to define Chinese clinical practice.
4. Cardiovascular Surgery and the Aorta: Valve Preservation and Domestic Devices
Lead: Professor Wang Chunsheng
Focus: Aortic dissection, bypass surgery, valve replacement, heart transplantation, and transcatheter mitral valve replacement.
The reported 2025–2026 milestones include the first national use of a domestic Fontus branched intraoperative stent, a David procedure for acute type A dissection in January 2026, and a first reported intrathoracic ultrasound-guided TMVR procedure in May 2026. The latter “first” should be confirmed against formal institutional and peer-reviewed documentation before being treated as an established global record.
The David procedure aims to preserve the patient's native aortic valve while replacing the diseased aortic root. It can be valuable in selected patients, but it is technically demanding and depends on valve quality, root anatomy, aortic pathology, and the surgical team's experience.
Clinical profile: A surgical program combining native-valve preservation with domestic stent innovation and complex aortic care.
5. Aortic Surgery: High-Volume Acute Dissection Care and Standardization
Lead: Professor Lai Hao
Focus: Thoracic aortic aneurysm, dissection, and total arch replacement.
The team is reported to complete more than 350 acute aortic dissection operations each year and to have led a national guideline for standardized aortic-disease diagnosis and treatment.
Acute aortic dissection is a time-critical emergency. Outcomes depend on rapid imaging, blood-pressure control, transfer logistics, surgical judgment, cerebral and organ-protection strategies, and intensive care. High procedural volume can support experience, but patients and families should also ask about the hospital's emergency pathway, postoperative neurological monitoring, renal protection, and long-term imaging schedule.
Clinical profile: A high-volume aortic surgery program combining surgical scale with national treatment standardization.
6. Gastrointestinal Endoscopy: Procedures, Devices, AI, and Standards in One Platform
Lead: Professor Zhou Pinghong
Focus: Endoscopic treatment of early gastrointestinal cancer, achalasia, and combined endoscopic procedures.
The reported advances include EISD being selected as one of the ten major developments in digestive endoscopy for 2025, global publication of the “Zhongshan approach” to combined endoscopy in April 2026, an annual ESGE innovation award for a disposable electric snare-knife, and the “Jingguan” multimodal AI endoscopy agent reported in April 2025.
The distinctive feature of this program is its full-stack approach: develop the procedure, improve the instrument, introduce AI assistance, and help define the clinical standard. AI endoscopy can support lesion detection and classification, but final decisions about biopsy, resection, pathology, and surveillance remain the responsibility of experienced endoscopists and multidisciplinary teams.
Patients considering endoscopic treatment should ask whether the lesion is suitable for endoscopic resection, whether it has invaded deeply, how complete resection will be assessed, and what follow-up endoscopy is required. Our Gastrointestinal Surgery in Shanghai guide provides related background.
Clinical profile: A digestive endoscopy program integrating technique, device development, AI assistance, and clinical standards.
7. Inflammatory Bowel Disease: Microbes, Metabolism, and Epigenetic Treatment Response
Lead: Professor Liu Hongchun
Focus: Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis.
A study reported in August 2026 examined how microbial phosphoketolase may promote histone lactylation and improve the response to anti-TNF treatment. This work represents a mechanistic link between gut microbes, metabolism, epigenetic regulation, and biologic therapy response.
The potential clinical value is personalized prediction: identifying which patients may respond to anti-TNF therapy, why resistance occurs, or whether a microbial-metabolic intervention could improve outcomes. At present, a mechanistic result should not be treated as a validated clinical test or a reason to change biologic treatment without specialist guidance.
Patients should ask whether a microbiome or metabolic test has been prospectively validated, whether it changes the treatment plan, and how infection, nutrition, vaccination, and cancer surveillance will be managed during immunosuppression.
Clinical profile: An IBD research direction connecting microbial metabolism and epigenetics with precision biologic treatment.
8. Nephrology: Transplant Preparation and Digital Peritoneal Dialysis
Leads: Professor Teng Jie
Focus: Chronic kidney disease, dialysis, kidney transplantation, and diabetic kidney disease.
The reported work includes a 2025 study comparing DFPP with plasma exchange as preconditioning strategies for ABO-incompatible kidney transplantation, together with information-based peritoneal dialysis management in 2026.
ABO-incompatible transplantation requires careful reduction or control of blood-group antibodies and close monitoring for rejection and infection. The choice between DFPP and plasma exchange may depend on antibody levels, access, center experience, cost, coagulation status, and the patient's broader clinical condition.
Digital peritoneal dialysis management may support remote monitoring, treatment adherence, fluid-balance review, and earlier recognition of complications. It should complement, not replace, patient education and regular nephrology review. Patients can read our Chronic Kidney Disease Treatment in Shanghai Medical Library guide for additional context.
Clinical profile: A kidney-care program combining transplant immunological preparation with digital management of home dialysis.
9. Endocrinology: Low-Cost Type 2 Diabetes Remission Strategies
Leads: Professors Li Xiaoying and Li Xiaomu
Focus: Type 2 diabetes remission and obesity.
A multicenter randomized trial published in The BMJ in January 2025 evaluated dapagliflozin combined with lifestyle intervention. At 12 months, 44% of participants in the combination group were reported to have achieved remission, 1.5 times the rate of the calorie-restriction group.
Diabetes remission is not the same as a permanent cure. It generally requires sustained improvement in glucose control without glucose-lowering medication for a defined period, and relapse can occur with weight regain, progressive beta-cell dysfunction, illness, or changes in lifestyle. Dapagliflozin is not suitable for everyone and requires discussion of kidney function, dehydration, genital infections, ketoacidosis risk, and other medication interactions.
Patients should clarify how remission was defined in the study, how long it lasted, and what ongoing monitoring is required. Our Diabetes and Endocrine Disorders Treatment in Shanghai guide offers related background.
Clinical profile: A practical “existing medicine plus lifestyle” approach that tests whether affordable interventions can improve diabetes remission at scale.
10. Respiratory and Critical Care: Multi-Omics, AI, and Connected Chronic Lung Care
Lead: Academician Wang Xiangdong
Focus: COPD, asthma, interstitial lung disease, and pulmonary hypertension.
The team is reported to have led the first global consensus on acute exacerbations of COPD and to have advanced ILD multidisciplinary diagnosis, electrical impedance tomography-guided mechanical ventilation, and stem-cell research.
Electrical impedance tomography can provide bedside information about regional ventilation and may help clinicians adjust mechanical ventilation more precisely. ILD multidisciplinary discussion brings together respiratory physicians, radiologists, pathologists, rheumatologists, and other specialists because similar imaging patterns can represent different diseases.
Stem-cell treatment remains a research area for many chronic lung conditions. Patients should confirm whether a proposed stem-cell intervention is part of an approved clinical trial, what evidence exists in the specific disease, and what risks and costs apply. Our Lung Disease and Critical Care in Shanghai Medical Library article provides additional context.
Clinical profile: A chronic respiratory-care program using multi-omics, AI, bedside physiology, and connected management to improve long-term disease control.
11. Integrative Neurology: Long-Term Stroke and Parkinson's Care
Lead: Professor Cai Dingfang
Focus: Stroke, Parkinson's disease, and sleep disorders through an integrative medicine model.
The department is a National Key Clinical Specialty and continues to work on secondary stroke prevention and Parkinson's diagnosis and treatment. No single landmark breakthrough was identified in the supplied material, but long-term prevention and symptom management are clinically important because outcomes depend on sustained follow-up rather than one procedure.
Patients should ask how Chinese and Western medical approaches are being combined, what evidence supports each intervention, how medication interactions will be monitored, and how rehabilitation, sleep, mood, mobility, swallowing, and caregiver needs will be addressed.
Our Stroke guide for international patients in Shanghai provides related information for families preparing for neurological care.
Clinical profile: A long-term integrative neurology program centered on prevention, functional preservation, and continuity of care.
12. How CMCS Helps International Patients Communicate with Specialists
For an international patient seeking cardiovascular, digestive, kidney, endocrine, respiratory, or neurological care in Shanghai, the most useful first step is to match the clinical question with the right specialist team. China Medical Concierge Shanghai (CMCS) is a health management and medical coordination service that helps patients connect with specialist doctors and hospital resources in Shanghai. CMCS is not a hospital and does not independently diagnose or prescribe treatment.
Before a consultation, CMCS can help organize imaging, endoscopy reports, pathology, laboratory results, ECG and echocardiography, cardiac catheterization data, kidney function, dialysis records, glucose monitoring, pulmonary-function tests, medication history, previous diagnoses, and current symptoms. For overseas patients, these records can be arranged into a concise English medical summary for the specialist.
CMCS can help patients prepare questions such as:
- Is the proposed device, procedure, medicine, or digital-care program appropriate for this diagnosis and level of risk?
- What evidence supports the treatment, and has it been compared with the current standard of care?
- For a new device or surgical technique, what are the center's experience, backup plan, and complication-management pathway?
- For transplantation or dialysis, what long-term medication, monitoring, and lifestyle requirements should the patient expect?
- For microbiome, AI, stem-cell, or integrative treatments, are the tests or interventions clinically validated?
- What alternatives are available, and what benefits, risks, costs, and follow-up needs do they involve?
During the consultation, CMCS can assist with appointment coordination, medical interpretation, communication between the patient and the care team, and clarification of the doctor's recommendations. Afterward, a case manager can help organize the proposed next steps, identify additional tests or records, clarify the follow-up schedule, and coordinate further communication with the hospital.
The final treatment decision must be made by the patient and the treating medical team. CMCS does not independently select a device, drug, operation, or integrative treatment. Its role is to help the patient bring complete information to the right specialist and ensure that evidence, risks, alternatives, access, and monitoring are discussed clearly.
To learn more about specialist consultations and treatment coordination in Shanghai, contact CMCS:
Email: contract@medicalsh.com
WhatsApp: Contact CMCS on WhatsApp
Website: medicalsh.com
Conclusion
The non-oncology programs at Fudan University Zhongshan Hospital show how modern clinical innovation includes more than new medicines. It also includes device engineering, minimally invasive procedures, digital monitoring, AI-supported diagnosis, transplant optimization, prevention, rehabilitation, and long-term chronic disease management.
For patients, the goal is not to pursue every new technology, but to identify the option that fits the diagnosis, risk profile, treatment history, health status, and personal priorities. This article was prepared from the team and program information provided for editorial use. Research findings, device claims, clinical recommendations, and treatment availability should be confirmed through the hospital, research team, regulatory authorities, and formally published studies. This article is for medical education only and is not individualized medical advice.
댓글 0개