China's Top Departments: Cardiovascular Surgery at Xijing Hospital (Air Force Medical University)

If you or a loved one is facing heart valve disease, coronary artery disease, an aortic aneurysm or dissection, complex congenital heart disease — or transplant evaluation for end-stage heart failure — the Department of Cardiovascular Surgery at Xijing Hospital in Xi'an is one of western China's leading centers. A National Key Discipline that performed China's first open-heart operation under cardiopulmonary bypass, it combines top-three national surgical volume with a full spectrum of minimally invasive, interventional and transplant capabilities.

About the Hospital

• Full name: The First Affiliated Hospital of the Air Force Medical University of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (widely known as "Xijing Hospital"; also listed as "Xijing Hospital of the Air Force Medical University").
• Level: Grade 3A (tertiary) general hospital; highest band A++++ in the "China Hospital Rankings" of Fudan University (banded ranking since the 2023 edition).
• City and address: No. 127 Changle West Road, Xincheng District, Xi'an, Shaanxi Province.
• History: traces back to the Central Hospital founded in Yan'an in November 1939; in 1954 the affiliated hospitals of the former 4th and 5th Military Medical Universities merged into the First Affiliated Hospital of the 4th Military Medical University; in October 1984 it adopted the name "Xijing Hospital"; in 2017 it was placed under the Air Force.
• Scale: about 8,000 staff, about 3,122 authorized beds, about 3.8 million outpatient and emergency visits and about 102,000 inpatient admissions per year; 9 national key disciplines, several national key clinical specialties (military construction projects), and 12 PLA medical research institutes (open-source figures).
• Overall standing: consistently ranked in China's top 20 in the Fudan "China Hospital Rankings" (14th in the 2021/2022 lists); open sources also describe it among the leading hospitals nationwide.
• Milestone in cardiovascular care: in June 1958, under Professor Su Hongxi, Xijing Hospital performed the first open-heart operation under cardiopulmonary bypass in China — a landmark in the history of Chinese cardiac surgery.
• Location and transport: in the central Xincheng District, near Metro Line 1 and several bus routes, relatively close to Xi'an Railway Station. Xi'an is the starting point of the ancient Silk Road and an important hub of the Belt and Road Initiative, offering geographic and connectivity advantages for patients from Central Asia, Southeast Asia and beyond.

About the Department

• Name: Department of Cardiovascular Surgery (also referred to as "Cardiac and Great-Vessel Surgery").
• Historical standing: performed China's first open-heart operation under cardiopulmonary bypass in 1958, a milestone in the development of cardiovascular surgery in China.
• Academic milestones (open sources): among the first in China to enroll master's students (1964); one of the PLA's first specialty centres and a master's degree authorization site (1978); doctoral degree authorization site (1987); component discipline of a clinical medicine postdoctoral station (1995); key discipline of the national "211" Project (1997); designated PLA Cardiovascular Disease Institute and one of the PLA's first "top-priority" disciplines (2001); rated a National Key Discipline (cardiothoracic surgery) and became China's first training base for minimally invasive cardiovascular surgery (2002); Chinese Medical Doctor Association training base for cardiovascular surgeons (2005); accredited national heart-lung transplantation unit (2008); national training centre for congenital heart disease interventional therapy (2009); national key clinical specialty (Ministry of Health) (2013); Shaanxi Provincial Clinical Medical Research Centre (2015).
• Team: 250 scientific and technical staff, including 5 professors and 13 associate professors, 6 doctoral supervisors and 10 master's supervisors; more than 90% of physicians hold a doctorate or have returned from study abroad (open-source figures).
• Wards and theatres: three inpatient wards, a dedicated intensive-care ward, independent specialty operating theatres and laboratories; 223 beds in operation.
• Clinical teams: congenital heart surgery, infant and neonatal surgery, valve surgery, coronary artery surgery, aortic aneurysm surgery, thoracoscopic surgery, interventional therapy, critical care, and cardiopulmonary bypass.
• Volume (open sources): about 4,700 cardiac operations per year, ranking among China's top three; severe and complex cases account for more than 60%; the youngest patient was 5 hours old, the lowest body weight 1.8 kg, the oldest patient 87 years; surgical success rate 98.3%.
• Transplantation and complex procedures: 126 heart transplants, with the first recipient surviving more than 19 years with a quality of life comparable to normal; 2 combined heart-lung transplants; 1 simultaneous heart-liver-kidney transplant (the first in Asia).

Academic Standing and Accreditation

• National Key Discipline (cardiothoracic surgery) (Ministry of Education, 2002); key discipline of the national "211" Project (1997).
• PLA Cardiovascular Disease Institute (2001); one of the PLA's first "top-priority" disciplines; one of the PLA's first specialty centres (1978).
• National Key Clinical Specialty (Ministry of Health) (2013).
• National platforms: accredited national heart-lung transplantation unit (2008); national training centre for congenital heart disease interventional therapy (2009); Chinese Medical Doctor Association training base for cardiovascular surgeons (2005); China's first training base for minimally invasive cardiovascular surgery (2002); Shaanxi Provincial Clinical Medical Research Centre (2015).
• Fudan specialty reputation: the department has long been ranked among the leaders in the Fudan "China Hospital Specialty Reputation Ranking" (public platforms list it as No. 6 nationwide and No. 1 in northwest China; positions vary slightly by year).
• Research (open sources): 6 major national science and technology projects, 12 key projects of the National Science and Technology Support Program, 9 major projects of the national "863" Program, and 143 projects from the National Natural Science Foundation and military/provincial/ministerial sources.
• Awards (open sources): 1 first prize and 3 second prizes of the National Science and Technology Progress Award; 1 major achievement award of the national "Eighth Five-Year Plan"; 7 first and 22 second prizes at military/provincial/ministerial level; 1 first prize of the Chinese Medical Science and Technology Award.

Key Technologies and Signature Conditions

• Minimally invasive cardiac surgery: totally thoracoscopic heart surgery and small-incision procedures; China's first training base for minimally invasive cardiovascular surgery (2002).
• Coronary artery surgery: coronary artery bypass grafting (including off-pump and small-incision techniques).
• Heart valve surgery: repair and replacement of the aortic, mitral and tricuspid valves; transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) and other interventional treatments.
• Great-vessel / aneurysm surgery: aortic dissection and thoracic/abdominal aortic aneurysm; the department performs more than 1,000 aortic interventional and surgical procedures per year (including more than 400 open operations), such as valve-sparing aortic root replacement, aortic arch replacement and hybrid procedures for aortic dissection.
• Congenital heart disease — surgery and intervention: congenital heart surgery, complex congenital surgery in infants and neonates, and interventional treatment (national training centre for congenital heart disease interventional therapy).
• Heart transplantation and heart-lung transplantation: 126 heart transplants (first recipient surviving more than 19 years); 2 combined heart-lung transplants; 1 simultaneous heart-liver-kidney transplant (the first in Asia).
• Critical care and extracorporeal life support: cardiac surgical intensive care, organ protection during cardiopulmonary bypass, ECMO and mechanical circulatory support.
• Thoracoscopic / totally endoscopic minimally invasive surgery: thoracoscopic mitral valve repair rate above 95% (open-source figures).

Specialist Team

Yi Dinghua

Professor, Chief Physician, doctoral supervisor; former Director and academic leader of the Department of Cardiovascular Surgery at Xijing Hospital (open sources); recipient of a State Council special allowance; awarded 1 first and 2 second prizes of the National Science and Technology Progress Award, among other honours; specialises in the surgical treatment of complex heart disease such as aneurysm and coronary artery disease.

Liu Weiyong

Chief Physician, Professor, doctoral supervisor (a senior academic leader); a member of the research team for China's first open-heart operation under cardiopulmonary bypass in 1958; first in China to develop a valved conduit and apply it in complex congenital heart surgery.

Yi Wei

Chief Physician, Changjiang Scholar, MD; specialises in the surgical treatment of complex coronary disease, aneurysm, valvular disease, atrial fibrillation and cardiac tumours, especially aortic, mitral and tricuspid valve repair/replacement.

Yang Jian

Associate Chief Physician, doctoral supervisor; Director of the cardiovascular surgery ward I (open sources); specialises in the surgical and interventional treatment of valvular heart disease, especially TAVR and the interventional treatment of paravalvular leak and rare malformations.

Duan Weixun

Associate Chief Physician, Associate Professor; Deputy Director of cardiovascular surgery (open sources); specialises in the surgical treatment of aortic dissection, aortic aneurysm and hereditary aortic disease such as Marfan syndrome.

Zheng Qijun

Chief Physician, Professor, doctoral supervisor; specialises in valvular heart disease (elderly patients, small annulus, etc.), congenital heart disease, coronary disease, minimally invasive small-incision surgery and aneurysm surgery.

Other Specialists

Other specialists (open sources): Yu Shiqiang, Sun Guocheng, Liu Jincheng, Tang Jiayou, Zhang Jinzhou, Xu Xuezeng, Jin Zhenxiao, Zhao Rong, Ji Pengfei and others (titles and specialties are subject to confirmation by the hospital and official platforms on the day).

Suitable Conditions

• Coronary artery disease (including those requiring coronary bypass or minimally invasive bypass)
• Valvular heart disease: aortic stenosis/regurgitation, mitral stenosis/regurgitation, multi-valve disease, rheumatic valvular heart disease
• Great-vessel disease: aortic dissection, aortic aneurysm (thoracic/abdominal, sinus of Valsalva aneurysm), hereditary aortic disease such as Marfan syndrome
• Congenital heart disease: atrial septal defect, ventricular septal defect, patent ductus arteriosus, patent foramen ovale, tetralogy of Fallot, transposition of the great arteries, complex congenital heart disease (including neonates and infants)
• Cardiac tumours, pericardial disease, hypertrophic (obstructive) cardiomyopathy
• End-stage heart failure, dilated cardiomyopathy: heart transplantation, combined heart-lung transplantation, ventricular mechanical support/ECMO
• Patients requiring minimally invasive or totally thoracoscopic cardiac surgery

Address and Contact

• Address: No. 127 Changle West Road, Xincheng District, Xi'an, Shaanxi Province, China
• Switchboard: +86-29-88886666 / +86-29-84775507 / +86-29-84774114 (subject to the hospital's official information on the day)
• Website: xjwww.fmmu.edu.cn (First Affiliated Hospital of the Air Force Medical University / Xijing Hospital)

For a quick overview of the department, see the Xijing Hospital Cardiovascular Surgery department page.

Facing heart surgery? Contact Medora for a free, personalized consultation and help arranging care at Xijing Hospital.