Neonatology Department
Overview
The Department of Neonatology was formally established in 1996. Since its inception, the department has undergone rapid development and is now certified as both a National Key Clinical Specialty and a Key Medical Discipline of Zhejiang Province. Two doctors from the department formerly served as the standing committee of the Chinese Pediatric Society, the former chair of the Neonatology Group of the Chinese Pediatric Society, the former vice-chair of the Chinese Perinatology Society, and the former vice-president of the Neonatology Branch of the Chinese Medical Doctor Association; Dr. Yuan Tianmin is now the current chairman of the Zhejiang Provincial Perinatology Society. The faculty comprises seven chief physicians, two associate chief physicians, and twenty-four fellows, among whom fifteen hold doctoral degrees and one is a master’s supervisor; more than fifty specialized nursing staff are also employed. At present the department has 120 beds and admits more than 4,000 infants annually, including over 2,000 critically ill cases.
The ward complex includes general nurseries, respiratory and gastrointestinal isolation rooms, single-room isolation for specific diseases, and international family-centered suites. Advanced equipment includes cardiopulmonary monitors, transcutaneous oxygen-saturation monitors, radiant warmers for resuscitation, phototherapy and intensive phototherapy units for hyperbilirubinemia, amplitude-integrated electroencephalography (aEEG) monitors, and non-invasive respiratory-support devices.
All major subspecialties are fully represented: neonatal respiratory medicine, neonatal neurology, neonatal cardiology, neonatal infectious diseases, neonatal jaundice, neonatal nutrition, and neonatal surgery. Diagnostic and therapeutic procedures performed include central venous catheterization, total parenteral nutrition (TPN), comprehensive management of critically ill premature infants, exchange transfusion for severe hyperbilirubinemia, early surgical intervention for congenital malformations, newborn screening for inborn errors of metabolism, universal newborn hearing screening, retinopathy of prematurity screening, cerebral function monitoring, chromosomal micro-array analysis, and high-throughput gene sequencing. The department maintains active basic and clinical research programs focusing on neonatal infection and perinatal brain and lung injury.
At present the Department has evolved into an integrated center for neonatal diagnosis, treatment, and research that combines a specialized outpatient service, inpatient wards, and laboratories. It is also recognized as one of the leading institutions for training and academic exchange in the field of neonatology throughout China.
The Department of Neonatology provides comprehensive coverage of neonatal respiratory, neurological, cardiovascular, infectious, jaundice, nutritional, and surgical conditions. It manages both common diseases—such as neonatal pneumonia, enteritis, sepsis, enteroviral infection, purulent meningitis, hyperbilirubinemia, and hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy—and a substantial number of rare, complex, and critical disorders. Central venous catheterization and enteral/parenteral nutrition are routinely performed to shorten the length of stay for preterm infants. Severe hyperbilirubinemia is promptly treated with exchange transfusion to reduce the incidence of bilirubin encephalopathy. Pre-operative preparation and intensive monitoring are provided for neonates with congenital anomalies, including congenital heart disease, esophageal atresia, diaphragmatic hernia, gastrointestinal malformations, and airway malformations. Beyond standard monitoring, the unit offers bedside cerebral function monitoring, bedside magnetic resonance imaging, cardiac function assessment, screening for inborn errors of metabolism, and genetic diagnosis of rare and puzzling neonatal diseases. Developmental supportive care—comprising neonatal massage, neurobehavioral training, and kangaroo mother care—is performed routinely to accelerate the recovery of critically ill newborns.
Professional Features
1. Comprehensive management of preterm infants at high-risk
The Department of Neonatology implements prevention and treatment of complications of preterm infants at high-risk. Approximately 200 peripherally inserted central catheterization (PICC) procedures are performed annually, coupled with rigorous nosocomial-infection control and screening and treatment for retinopathy of prematurity (ROP). A structured long-term follow-up programme is actively pursued to detect early motor delay and other sequelae, enabling prompt intervention and improving both quality of survival and long-term health.
2. Early diagnosis of neonatal sepsis
The Department of Neonatology was the first in China to introduce real-time fluorescent quantitative PCR for bacterial detection, markedly advancing the early diagnosis and therapeutic outcome of neonatal sepsis.
3. Basic and clinical research on perinatal brain injury
Neonatal brain injury is identified at the earliest opportunity through clinical assessment, bedside cranial ultrasonography, amplitude-integrated electroencephalography(aEEG), and bedside magnetic resonance imaging(MRI). Inborn errors of metabolism are uncovered via expanded neonatal metabolic screening. Integrated therapeutic protocols have been established for perinatal asphyxia and severe hypoxic-ischaemic encephalopathy, together with standardised algorithms for early diagnosis and systematic prevention of preterm brain injury. Scientific research exploring the mechanistic links between intrauterine inflammation and perinatal brain damage is ongoing.
4. Early surgical intervention for congenital malformations
A multidisciplinary platform—uniting the NICU, paediatric surgical ICU, paediatric surgery, anaesthesiology, and extracorporeal circulation teams—has been established to provide timely diagnosis and optimal management of severe congenital visceral anomalies in neonates, including congenital heart disease, gastrointestinal malformations, and urogenital defects.
The Department of Neonatology maintains long-standing academic exchanges with several premier children’s hospitals in the United States and the United Kingdom. It plays a leading role in both clinical practice and basic research on neonatal respiratory failure and preterm brain injury in China. Focusing on clinical investigations of critical neonatal conditions and improving the survival rate and quality of life of high-risk infants, the department has conducted studies on persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn, intrauterine inflammation-induced perinatal brain and lung injury, and rapid molecular diagnosis of bacterial, enteroviral, and other pathogenic infections. These initiatives have been supported by a substantial portfolio of national and ministerial key research grants.
In recent years, the Department of Neonatology has secured more than twenty national-level research grants, including one Key Project of the National Natural Science Foundation of China, one project under the National Science and Technology Support Program, and over ten general projects of the National Natural Science Foundation of China. More than fifty SCI-indexed papers have been published and four national invention patents have been granted.
Expert Team
| No. | Name | Academic Rank |
|---|---|---|
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1 |
Chief Physician |
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2 |
Chief Physician |
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3 |
Chief Physician |
