In 1986,Subdepartment of Cardiothoracic Surgery was set up within Department of General Surgery with support of General Surgery specialists of older generation.Professor Zhou Guan Han who was one of the first 13 persons as medical visiting group sponsored by goverment of P.R.China to study in USA served as the first academic leader. During establishment of department, Professor Zhou Guan Han made numerous efforts in arrangement and technical training of personnel,setting patients’ beds, purchase of professional instruments,searching for pertinent patients,and so on.Since the first thoracic operation of radical resection of cardiac cancer was performed in September 1986, the number of operations of Cardiothoracic Surgery increased up to 100 cases per year after 5 years.

    In 1991,Cardiothoracic Surgery department was independently founded in demand of further expertise development.Professor Liu Dan Dan who served as deputy chief then led colleagues to make constant investigation and hardworking in field of cardiothoracic surgery.As one of the first few departments nationwide being able to perform VATS technique,Cardiothoracic Surgery Department performed the first VATS pulmonary bulla resection operation in March 1994.In 1995,Cardiothoracic Surgery Department performed the first VATS repair of hiatal hernia and the first sleeve lobectomy.Gradually, department businesses developed in a direction of more diversified,more complex and more sophisticated,which lay solid foundation for later development.

    In demand of hospital development situation,Chief physician Yan Tian Sheng who was granted Doctor’s degree of Thoracic Surgery by Institute of Cancer of the Chinese Academy of Medicine was introduced into Thoracic Surgery department as academic leader in 2000. From then on,Thoracic Surgery department steped into fast-developing stage. The subject researching specialty focused on both thoracic tumor and minimal invasive surgery.Meanwhile,Thoracic Surgery department established discipline of subject devopment as that developing both department and personnel specialty.Focusing on subject researching specialty of thoracic tumor and thoracic minimal invasive surgery,Thoracic Surgery department kept close to domestic and international theoretic and technological advances,vigorously carried out new technologies,thereby kept subject developing in strong momentum.A lot of sophisticated thorcic surgeries were performed,such as main bronchus or lobe bronchus sleeve lobectomy for lung cancer,trachea sleeve resection for trachea tumor,VATS lung volume reduction surgery for severe pulmonary emphysema,VATS lobectomy,VATS for palmar hyperhidrosis,VATS extended thymectomy for myathenia gravis of old patients,single-incision right thoracotomy and esophagectomy for upper esophagus carcinoma with super-pleura anastomosis,hand-assisted VATS left thoraocotomy and esophagectomy with super aorta arch anastomosis,etc.With these achievements, Thoracic Surgery department enteres into new era of minimal invasive surgery.

    In 2013,vice chief physician Ma Shao Hua was introduced into Thoracic Surgery department from Beijing Cancer Hospital by chief physician Yan Tian Sheng.Thus department techniques were dramatically strenthened and constitute of talent team were improved.In 2013,thoracoscope-laprascope combined esophagectomy(minimal invasive esophagectomy,MIE) was performed with satisfying clinic effect. Up to now,more than 150 cases MIE were completed which gains us peers’attention. In terms of VATS technique,standardized single-direction lobetomy,VATS sleeve lobetomy,VATS anatomical segmentectomy,single-ported VATS lobectomy,VATS pnemectomy,Hook-wire location lung nodule precise resection,etc,were gradually performed which represent further development in minmal invsive surgery.Presently,department VATS technique has stepped into new stage.In term of medical education, minmal invasive thoracic surgery forum of Peking University Third Hospital has been held 15 times, and more than 600 trainees from various hospitals nationwide attended.

    In December 2022, Professor Qiang Guangliang transferred from the National Respiratory Medical Center and China-Japan Friendship Hospital to the Department of Thoracic Surgery of Beijing Medical University Third Hospital. Since taking charge, the department has carried out work in an orderly manner. The current bed capacity is 32, with an annual surgical volume of over 1,200 cases. Young doctors are active in their work and their surgical techniques are becoming increasingly mature. At the same time, surgeries have been gradually carried out in the branch hospitals, and the Department of Thoracic Surgery has already carried out surgeries in the Yanqing and Qinhuangdao branches of Beijing University Third Hospital. In the future, surgeries will continue to be carried out in other branch hospitals of Beijing University Third Hospital, and the department will reach a new level.

    The Department of Thoracic Surgery undertakes clinical teaching work for the School of Basic Medical Sciences of Peking University and is a base for clinical physician standardized training and specialized training for thoracic surgeons. It is also a high-quality nursing ward and a demonstration ward for accelerated rehabilitation surgery (ERAS). The Thoracic Minimally Invasive Forum is held every year, with students from all over the country. From basic to clinical research, the work has been continuously carried out, and multiple patents have been applied for and clinically transformed.
    The Department of Thoracic Surgery has comprehensive clinical techniques and performs almost all types of thoracic surgery with continuous innovation. It is one of the first batch of units in the country to carry out minimally invasive thoracoscopic surgery and one of the first units in Beijing to carry out robot-assisted surgery.

    Currently, more than 100 robot-assisted surgeries have been carried out, including various lobectomies, lobectomy, composite segment/subsegmental resections, anatomical resections, sleeve resections, etc., including single-port to multi-port approaches. Minimally invasive esophageal cancer resection was carried out in Beijing earlier, and extensive experience has been accumulated. In terms of mediastinal tumors, subxyphoid and other approaches to thymectomy and extended thymectomy, and construction of the superior vena cava are carried out. At the same time, combined with anchor wire positioning, preoperative three-dimensional reconstruction technology and fluorescence laparoscopy technology, the surgery is safe and efficient.

    In non-cancer surgery, the Department of Thoracic Surgery has accumulated rich experience in the treatment of pneumothorax, complex pneumothorax correction, and traumatic rib fracture internal fixation.

Advocating advanced treatment concepts, as a member of a large comprehensive hospital, the Department of Thoracic Surgery carries out multi-departmental cooperation and leads the lung cancer MDT. New adjuvant treatment and whole-process management of tumor patients are carried out. For patients with increasing age and many comorbidities, individualized treatment plans are provided.
    Currently, the Department of Thoracic Surgery has achieved full coverage of mainstream minimally invasive thoracic surgery. These include but are not limited to: video-assisted lobectomy, lobectomy, segmentectomy, subsegmentectomy, total lobectomy, sleeve lobectomy; single-port minimally invasive thoracoscopic surgery, hook-wire positioning small nodule precise resection surgery, minimally invasive thoracoscopic and laparoscopic esophageal cancer resection, subxyphoid mediastinal tumor resection, Da Vinci robot-assisted surgery, and almost all advanced minimally invasive thoracic surgery methods.
    The Peking University Third Hospital Lung Cancer MDT team, led by the Department of Thoracic Surgery, was established in 2013 and includes member departments such as thoracic surgery, tumor chemotherapy and radiotherapy, tumor radiotherapy, pathology, respiratory and critical care medicine, nuclear medicine, radiology, biological sample bank, and radiation oncology. It effectively solves complex clinical problems. With one-stop service and whole-process management, from initial diagnosis by imaging to puncture pathological diagnosis; from green channel admission to minimally invasive surgical treatment; from postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy to sequential local radiotherapy, the team has continuously obtained excellent team答辩in the hospital for many years.

    The Department of Thoracic Surgery at Beijing University Third Hospital is an ERAS postoperative rapid recovery demonstration ward. Under the guidance of ERAS concepts, patients turn over quickly. In addition, the Department of Thoracic Surgery's inpatient management center also plays an important role in the preoperative period. Preoperative examinations and evaluations of patients can be completed quickly before hospitalization, reducing preoperative hospital stays and reducing surgical risks.

    The gradual improvement of the Cancer Center at Peking University Third Hospital signifies the further upgrading of the patient service system. Under the service system of the Cancer Center, patients can receive a full range of one-stop services from physical examination screening to outpatient diagnosis and preoperative examination, obtaining tumor pathology, and ultimately developing treatment plans to enter specialized treatment.

    Now,Thoracic Surgery department is endeveouring to advancing in clinic work,medical education and medical science studying.In the premise of keep clinic business in constant promotion,Thoracic Surgery department would focus on medical science and clinical translation study,striving to construct research-type department.