Recent Evolution of the Treatment of Coronary Artery Disease in China: A Conversation With Ya-Ling Han, MD, PhD.

Abstract

Ya-Ling Han, MD, PhD, was born in Wuhan, Hubei province, in 1953. She graduated from Haebin Medical University in 1978. She received her doctorate in 1994 from Shanghai Second Military Medical University. She was a visiting scholar at the National Heart Center, Singapore. She is currently a professor and the director of the Department of Cardiology, General Hospital of Shenyang Military Region; the director of the Cardiovascular Research Institute; and the director of the Key Laboratory of Acute Severe Cardiovascular Treatment Research of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army. She is the president of the Chinese College of Cardiovascular Physicians and Chairperson-elect of the Chinese Society of Cardiology. Dr Rutherford asks: Could you describe the scope of clinical cardiac care provided in the Department of Cardiology at the General Hospital of Shenyang Military Region? Dr Ya-L ing Han replies : The Department of Cardiology at the General Hospital of Shenyang Military Region, together with the departments of congenital heart disease and cardiovascular surgery, constitute the cardiovascular institute of the People’s Liberation Army, which is among the top 5 centers in China providing comprehensive care for CVD. Our center is located in Northeast China, an area with the highest prevalence of CAD, so the treatment and prevention of CAD is our major focus. We are a busy center: we perform ≈7000 PCIs, 1400 radiofrequency ablations, 550 pacemaker implantations, 900 congenital heart disease interventions, and ≈2500 cardiovascular surgeries annually, with an overall in-hospital mortality rate of <1%. We have pioneered many facets of CVD treatment in China, including PCI for complicated coronary lesions, CTO of coronary arteries, left main coronary disease, treatment of high-risk patients with AMI, novel antithrombotic strategies for coronary patients, and surgical and percutaneous treatment of complicated congenital heart disease. Over the past 2 decades, you and your team have …