About Us
The Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery provides a whole range of heart, aorta and thoracic surgery including treatment for complex congenital heart disease and management and treatment of end-stage heart and lung failure to adult patients in Hong Kong. Each year we are performing more than 600 cardiac surgeries and 700 thoracic surgeries. In collaboration with the HKWC, the department has developed state-of-the-art operating and hybrid suites, robotic, and minimally invasive facilities.
The cardiac surgery has well-established clinical programs in areas of myocardial revascularization, heart valve surgery, major aortic surgery, transplantation and circulatory support devices. Besides improving results in highly complex cardiac operations, advanced minimally invasive approaches are now being routinely performed. These include robotic and endoscopic assisted surgery, endovascular aortic repair (TEVAR) and transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI). New technologies such as Neochord for mitral repair and J-valve for replacing leaking aortic valves are now available. Besides heart and lung transplantation for end-stage diseases, mechanical assist device procedures are now routinely done. Heart transplant and ventricular assist programs at QMH have grown over the last decade while maintaining excellent outcomes.
Our department works in collaboration with the pediatric cardiac unit of Hong Kong Children's Hospital in managing adult congenital heart disease patients. A range of complex congenital cardiac surgery is performed including Fontan conversion, valve repair for Ebstein anomaly, RVOT reconstruction, pulmonary valve replacement, repair of septal defects, mechanical circulatory support and cardiac transplantation.
Our general thoracic surgery covers benign and malignant diseases of the lung, chest wall, airway, mediastinum and diaphragm. Most of the surgery is performed using video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS). We also provide robotic-assisted thoracic surgery for lung resection and thymectomy.
We are the main referral center for complex cardiac conditions, the only center for heart and lung failure surgery and congenital cardiac disease in adults.
The Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery is committed to educating the next generation of cardiothoracic surgeons through our residency and fellowship programs. In addition to the advanced clinical training, various academic meetings and conferences are regularly organized such as the annual Hong Kong Valves and End-Stage Heart Failure Symposium. Funded opportunities to attend international meetings and support for overseas training are also provided.
The department upholds its commitment to transparency and public accountability by routinely publishing its biennial report, which provides specifics on its heart surgery activities and outcomes. A joint report on the activity and outcomes of cardiac surgery from the three cardiothoracic centers in Hong Kong, Queen Mary Hospital, Queen Elizabeth Hospital, and the Prince of Wales Hospital is also available for public viewing.
About heart and lung transplant
Notable milestones in the evolution:
| Year |
Event |
| 1957 |
- Introduced Thoracic Surgery
|
| 1968 |
- An Open Heart Unit was established
- First successful open heart operation performed in Grantham Hospital
|
| 1991 |
- The Tuberculosis, Chest and Heart Diseases Association vested the management and control of the Hospital under Hospital Authority
|
| 1992 |
- First heart transplant in Hong Kong
|
| 1995 |
- First single-lung transplant in Hong Kong
- First heart-Iung transplant in Hong Kong
- Introduced transmyocardial laser revascularization
|
| 1996 |
- Introduced off pump CABG and minimally invasive direct coronary artery bypass (MIDCAB)
|
| 1997 |
- First double-lung transplant in Hong Kong
|
| 1998 |
- Outcome management for adult cardiac patients to improve unsatisfactory outcomes
|
| 1999 |
- Outcome management for coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) successfully implemented
- Introduced nitric oxide for treating congenital heart disease with pulmonary hypertension
- Carried out the tracheoplasty for congenital tracheal stenosis
|
| 2000 |
- Carried out the ECMO operation for paediatric patient
- Introduced Radio Frequency Ablation (RFA) for Atrial Fibrillation (AF)
- Introduced risk stratification audit project in adult heart surgery
|
| 2001 |
- Introduced the first para corporeal LVAD in children in Hong Kong
|
| 2004 |
- Introduced Endoscopic Vein Harvesting (EVH) in CABG patients
|
| 2006 |
- First minimally invasive mitral valve repair operation
|
| 2008 |
- Relocated successfully from Grantham Hospital to Queen Mary Hospital
|
| 2009 |
- First Paediatric heart transplantation in Hong Kong
|
| 2010 |
- First V-A ECMO in Paediatric case
- First Heart-liver transplantation in Hong Kong
- First implantable Left Ventricular Artificial Devices (LVAD) in Hong Kong
- First V-V ECMO in adult case (lung transplant case)
- New outcome management for Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting (CABG) successfully implemented
- 100th Heart Transplant
|
| 2011 |
- 1st ventricular assist device (CentriMag) implantation in supporting right and left heart for patient with acute ventricular failure
|
| 2012 |
- “Nurse Led Programme in Building Trust and Partnership in the Management of Care with LVAD Patients” won the Asian Hospital Management Awards (Bio medical Equipment / Facilities Improvement Project)
- Introduced the first transfemoral TAVI operation
- Published the first “QMH Cardiac Surgery Biennial Report 2010-2011”
|
| 2013 |
- Introduced the first transapical TAVI operation
- First LVAD patient received heart transplant
- First Paediatric patient with Berlin Heart and later received heart transplant
|
| 2014 |
- First robotic-assisted mitral valve repair operation
- First Paediatric CABG and CentriMag LVAD implantation
- Hong Kong West Cluster & Queen Mary Hospital Outstanding Teams Award 2014
- Left Ventricular Assist Devices (LVAD) Nursing Team
|
| 2016 |
- Held the first Hong Kong End Stage Heart Failure Management symposium
|
| 2017 |
- World longest BiVAD (CentriMag) support (282 days) successfully bridged to heart transplant
- First Heartmate III Left Ventricular Assist Device for end-stage heart failure
|
| 2018 |
- First NeoChord mitral valve repair operation in Asia
- Held the first Hong Kong Valve symposium
- Held the third Hong Kong End Stage Heart Failure Management symposium
|
| 2019 |
- Hong Kong West Cluster & Queen Mary Hospital Outstanding Teams Award 2019
- Paediatric extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) Team
- Master of Nursing (MNurs) in Perfusion Science programme with School of Nursing, HKU initiated
- First robotic-assisted lung resection
|
| 2020 |
- First use of Organ Care System in Heart transplant
|
| 2021 |
- First hybrid On-pump beating-heart CABG with transaortic TAVI and PCI
|
| 2023 |
- First hybrid Convergent Atrial Fibrillation Ablation Procedure in Asia
|