Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery

Overview

The Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery at Peking University People's Hospital has long been recognized as a leading institution in hepatobiliary surgery. It is designated as a National Key Specialty by the National Health Commission and a Beijing Key Discipline. It houses the Peking University Institute of Organ Transplantation and the Peking University Liver Cancer Research Center. The department is currently staffed by eight professors, six associate professors, four attending physicians, and one resident physician.

As one of the earliest medical institutions in China dedicated to the treatment of portal hypertension due to liver cirrhosis and liver cancer, the department has accumulated extensive experience over more than half a century. It has maintained a leading position in the treatment of liver, gallbladder, pancreas, and spleen diseases. The late Professor Huang Cuiting, a renowned surgical expert, was among the first in China to apply splenorenal shunt surgery for portal hypertension in the 1960s. Along with Professors Du Ruyu and Leng Xisheng, he pioneered the widely-recognized "Fluid Messenger Theory", a classic theory on the pathogenesis of portal hypertension. Professors Huang Cuiting and Du Ruyu were successively elected as Chairmen of the Chinese Society of Surgery.

In the early 1990s, Professor Leng Xisheng was the first in China to promote the use of small-diameter artificial vascular shunt surgery for portal hypertension, achieving excellent clinical outcomes. He also served as the first Chairman of the Surgery Branch of the Chinese Medical Doctor Association and Vice Chairman of the Chinese Society of Surgery. Since Professor Zhu Jiye assumed the role of director of the department in 2009, the department has made significant strides in clinical practice, education, and research.

In response to the growing shortage of organ donors, Professor Zhu Jiye, serving as a committee member and secretary of the National Health Commission's Organ Donation and Transplantation Committee, has played a key role in developing standard procedures and technical guidelines for organ transplantation following donation after cardiac death (DCD). In 2013, the department successfully performed Beijing's first DCD liver transplantation, achieving highly favorable clinical outcomes.

Clinical Services

Leveraging its extensive experience in the treatment of liver cirrhosis, portal hypertension, and liver cancer, the department has established a comprehensive treatment system centered on surgical intervention, integrated with minimally invasive techniques, transplantation, and a multidisciplinary treatment (MDT) approach. Since initiating its liver transplantation program in 2000, under the leadership of Professors Zhu Jiye and Leng Xisheng, the department has successfully performed over 600 transplantations, with a one-year postoperative survival rate exceeding 90% and some patients surviving for over 10 years. The annual case volume of complex hepatobiliary-pancreatic surgeries and liver transplantations performed by the department consistently ranks among the top tier in Beijing.

The department continues to pioneer innovative strategies in liver cancer, portal hypertension, and pancreaticobiliary diseases, addressing traditional treatment limitations. By incorporating minimally invasive and high-complexity surgical techniques, it has significantly improved both patient survival rates and quality of life.

Featured Medical Services:

     Advanced Liver Transplantation；

     Comprehensive Liver Cancer Management；

     Portal Hypertension Treatment；

     Complex Surgeries for Biliary, Pancreatic, and Splenic Diseases；

     Extensive Application of Minimally Invasive Techniques.

Education

The department has a total of 14 professors and associate professors, including two doctoral supervisors and five master's supervisors. The team has ensured high-quality training for MD program students, postgraduates, residents and specialists. Each year, the department trains over 50 clinical postgraduate students and residents and hosts more than 10 visiting physicians from across the country for specialized training. In recent years, several faculty members have received various teaching awards and published multiple educational articles. It also actively hosts international medical students for clinical rotations and welcomes international visiting scholars for academic exchanges and research collaborations.

Under the leadership of Professor Zhu Jiye and Professor Leng Xisheng, the Department of General Surgery at PKUHSC was established in 2010, with Professor Leng Xisheng serving as its first chair and Professor Zhu Jiye as the vice chair. The department holds a joint general surgery grand round and academic conference every three months, bringing together PKUPH's affiliated hospitals to discuss complex cases and share updates on new surgical technologies, concepts, and advancements. These regular meetings have significantly enhanced the overall standard of general surgery across the PKUPH medical system.

Research & Innovation

Our Hepatobiliary Surgery Laboratory has been designated as a Beijing Key Laboratory, focusing on three primary research areas: Pathogenesis of Portal Hypertension in Liver Cirrhosis; Screening of Early Molecular Biomarkers and Immunotherapy for Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC); Immune Tolerance Mechanisms in Liver Transplantation. These research efforts have yielded significant scientific advancements.

Currently, the department is currently undertaking a number of major national research projects and pioneering clinical research programs, including the National Health Commission's special projects, the National High-tech R&D Program (863 Program) and the National Program on Key Basic Research Project (973 Program), the 985 Project (a higher education development and sponsorship scheme), the National Science and Technology Support Plan, and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC).

Notably, in 2011, Professor Zhu Jiye, serving as the principal investigator, launched the National Health Commission's Special Research Project on the Optimal Selection and Promotion of Portal Hypertension Treatments with a record-breaking funding grant of 18.17 million CNY. This project has already achieved remarkable success, including the publication of 11 SCI papers, the development of multiple standardized clinical guidelines for the treatment of portal hypertension, and the granting of an invention patent.