The Nephrology Department at the Second Hospital of Shandong University was established in 1997 by Prof. Guangju Guan who is a famous nephrologist in China. The department has been committed to educate Shandong University medical students with the master's degree and the doctoral degree in nephrology from 1999 and 2001 respectively. It is the first PhD training center of nephrology in Shandong Province. Additionally, it is the only Clinical Key Disciplines of Nephrology supported by our nation in Shandong Province, which was awarded the first batch of key clinical disciplines from our hospital. Shandong University Institute of Nephrology was established at the Nephrology Department in August 2011. Prof. Yuqin Fu, a famous nephrologist and doctoral supervisor, is serving as the chief of the Nephrology Department.
The Nephrology Department consists of the outpatient clinic, renal wards, the Blood Purification Centre and the Urine Testing Laboratory for Renal Diseases with a total floor area of 1,020m2.
The Nephrology Department has 70 in-patient beds. We provide a broad range of diagnosis and treatment services for renal diseases, including primary/secondary glomerular diseases(diabetic kidney disease, hypertensive nephropathy, lupus nephritis, Purpura nephritis, renal damage in multiple myeloma), urinary tract infection, interstitial nephritis, renal tubular diseases, aristolochic acid nephropathy and acute or chronic renal failure caused by various reasons.
The Blood Purification Centre was established in 1999 to provide quality hemodialysis treatment to patients suffering from kidney diseases, which was awarded the first batch of characteristic clinical program from our hospital. The Blood Purification Centre is now has 50 hemodialysis machines, 6 hemodialysis filters, 2 plasma exchange machines and 4 CRRT machines within almost 20 years’ development. It is one of the largest hemodialysis centers in Shandong Province and provides quality hemodialysis treatment to about 30,000 person-times every year. In March 2013, the center was selected as the first batch of MOH County-level Hospital Blood Purification Center Training Base. Based on the domestically first level of our environment and facilities, it is one of the best hemodialysis centers in Shandong Province. We now provide high quality medical care to patients and help them maintain high quality of life, which is focus on rescuing and treating patients with acute and chronic renal failure, acute drugs poisoning, acute alcoholic intoxication, hyperlipemia, multiple organ failure, acute rejection after kidney transplantation, systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), psoriasis and other autoimmune diseases. Furthermore, the Blood Purification Centre is working on the therapy of artificial liver, which is a solution for the assisted treatment of hypohepatia or related diseases depending on external mechanical, chemical or biological devices to temporarily or partially substitute liver functions. This solution is highly effective with severe viral hepatitis, hepatic failure caused by various reasons (drug, toxicant, surgery, trauma, allergy, etc.), and hyperbilirubinemia (intrahepatic cholestasis, postoperative hyperbilirubinemia etc.) which can’t be effectively cured by internal medicine. Based on consolidated technical forces, high level of equipments and experience, the Blood Purification Centre has formed a high quality of working pattern with rapidly advanced blood purification techniques, including single plasma exchange, double plasma exchange, bedside blood filtration, hemodialysis, filtration, immunoadsorption, and blood perfusion. It is deserved thehigh reputation in the field of nephrology in Shandong Province. With almost 2 decades’ development, all medical faculties and clinical workers in the center have accumulated profound clinical experience to provide high qulity medical service to patients with advanced equipments and technologies in a comfortable environment, so that every hemodialysis patient can get high quality of treatments and enjoy thire life by improved medical care.
The Urine Testing laboratory for Renal Diseases offers the specific urinary tests for renal diseases, including urinary ACR, urinary transferrin, urinary IgG and urinary α1 microglobulin, etc.. These specific urinary tests can predict and diagnose the early-stage renal injury and the segment of renal tubular injury. So early diabetic kidney disease, hypertensive nephropathy, and renal tubular injury can be identified and treated in the early stage to reduce the incidence of end-stage renal diseases.
Clinical workers and faculties
There are many outstanding clinical workers and faculties in the Nephrolgy Department with high-quality medical trainings and research ability. The Department currently has 22 nephrologists who were divided into 4 medical teams, including 4 professors and chief physicians, amongst whom, 1 is level-2 professor in Shandong University, 1 enjoys State Council Special Allowance, 1 is at the level-3, and 2 are famous nephrologists. There are also 5 co-chief physicians, 5 attending doctors, and 8 renal fellows. All physicians have a postgraduate diploma or higher, and 60% of them are doctors. The Nephrolgy Department currently has 3 doctoral supervisors, 4 master’s supervisors, the center has cultivated 37 master degree candidates and 36 doctoral candidates and 8 members enrolled in a postgraduate or PhD program so far.
The Department pays high attention to the training of workers training and keeps pace with the international academic frontier by supporting medical staffs to attend American Society of Neprology Annual Conference and China Nephrology Annual Conference to actively develop businesses. Many department members have been arranged to the Renal Division of Peking University First Hospital and General Hospital of Nanjing Military Region, while doctoral and master degree students who just graduate from universities are recruited in succession to enhance the talent team construction of the Nephrology Department. The young physicians were assigned with specialties respectively. In the past 2 years, 4 co-chief physicians, 2 attending doctors and 2 renal fellows have selected their sub-disciplinary direction to start clinical service and scientific research, and made a figure in their fields. At present, the physicians in every sub-specialty group is of reasonable structure and develop in a balanced manner. Under the leadership and guide of the academic backbones, each sub-specialty group can treat patients with difficult, stubborn and severe diseases in this discipline, and physicians at various levels can master the corresponding techniques soon.
Clinical Medicine
The Nephrology Department at our hospital is leading in Shandong Province in terms of the diagnosis, treatment and rescue level of common, frequently occurring, difficult and critical diseases. The most advanced automatic biopsy device in China has been used to perform the renal biopsy for years and the Department partners with the Pathology Department to make rapid and accurate diagnosis of various difficult renal diseases relying on light microscopy, immunofluorescence, electron microscopy and other techniques. For chronic kidney diseases, the integrated therapeutic regimen is used to protect renal function and delay the progression of renal failure. Non-invasive colon dialysis is given to pre-uremia patients to fully promote toxin excretion and protect residual renal functions while patients with uremia have access to peritoneal dialysis or blood purification. Peritoneal dialysis cathetering is applied to build a vascular access for hemodialysis (cathetering and internal fistula) for years, and the Department cooperates with the Renal Transplantation Department to treat patients with renal transplantation. The Department is particularly skilled in handling diseases like Diabetic nephropathy, hypertensive nephropathy, lupus erythenlatosus nephritis, complicated urinary tract infection, refractory nephrotic syndrome, acute and chronic renal insufficiency; furthermore, the Nephrology Department can practice angiography and interventional therapy to treat renal vascular diseases, i.e., renal arterial stenosis, thrombosis of renal artery and thrombosis, arteriolar neprosclerosis as well as renal vein thrombosis, with satisfactory effects. In recent years, the Department has integrated the quintessence from others in diagnosis and treatment by exchanging and cooperating with domestic and foreign famous nephrologists. In addition, the Department has gradually developed a set of unique renal disease diagnosis methods and techniques through years of clinical experience and scientific research achievements, which can significantly shorten patients’ stay in hospital, reduce the medical expenses and achieve good therapeutic effects and remarkable social benefits.
Characteristic techniques of the Blood Purification Centre:
1. Acute renal failure, chronic renal insufficiency or acute injury, drug intoxication, acute alcoholic intoxication, severe pneumonedema or cardiac insufficiency, drug-uncontrolled hyperkalemia, life-threatening acidosis, severe electrolyte disturbance and other diseases requiring urgent dialysis treatment;
2. Some chronic diseases require hemodialysis to remove some pathogenic factors, relieve and inhibit the diseases rather than a need for life-long replacement hemotherapy since their pathogenesis is unclear and the clinical treatment effect is not obvious. It is a lifelong alternative treatment for patients with ESRD;
3.It takes the lead to introduce IQ machine in the treatment of familial hypercholesterolemia, myasthenia gravis, Goodpasture syndrome, accelerated nephritides, autoimmune hemolytic anemia, hemophilia, lupus nephropathy, hemolytic uremic syndrome, for patients before and after renal transplantation or with neonatal hemolysis, AITP, hyperthyroidism crisis,pemphigus, diabetes, acute liver failure, hepatic coma, GBS, chronic inflammatory demyelinating multiple root neuritis, inflammatory rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), multiple sclerosis, fulminant hepatitis, postoperative liver failure and other difficult, stubborn and severe diseases;
4. Blood purification can effectively improve the cure rate and reduce the disability rate in case of Drugs or drug intoxication, such as barbiturates, diazepam, antidepressant, analgesic-antipyretic, herbicide, angiomyocardiac, anti-cancer drugs, phenolic compounds, organophosphorus, etc.
As a characteristic specialty in the hospital and a leading clinical discipline in the province, hemodialysis always puts patients in the central position, considers for patients and aims to improve their life qualitywith reasonable charges and remarkable curative effects.For patients with chronic maintenance hemodialysis, the Department insists on individualized dialysis treatment, and ensures sufficient hemodialysis via large-area and high-flux dialyzers of good biological compatibility; gives intermittently HF or HDF to make sure large-molecule toxin is timely cleared; and regularly monitors the calcium, phosphorus and PTH to improve mineral and bone metabolism disorder. The integrated treatment of blood purification has greatly improved the survival rate and life quality of dialysis patients, and extremely reduced the incidence of generalized pruritus, cardiac, digestive, haemal, bone, nerve and mental system complications. The Department pays attention to psychological treatment during physical treatment. The Department applies institutionalized management to patient follow-upto ensure the long-term quality of life. The Department aims toserve the society and benefit the people.
Research
Since its foundation, the Nephrolgy Department has undertaken nearly 30 national MOH key projects, general and youth projects of National Natural Science Foundation of China, and other projects of the MOH Foundation, Shandong Provincial Natural Science Foundation, Shandong Provincial Scientific and Technical Problem Tackling Program and Jinan Clinical Medical Science Innovation Plan with total research grant up to 10 million CNY. It was awarded with one 2nd Prize of Outstanding Science and Technology Progress Award of Scientific Research by Universities and Colleges, one 1st Prize of Outstanding Scientific Research Achievements of Universities and Colleges in Shandong Province, one 2nd Prize of Outstanding Scientific Research Achievements of Universities and Colleges in Shandong Province, two 3rd Prize of Outstanding Scientific Research Achievements of Universities and Colleges in Shandong Province, one 2nd Prize of Outstanding Science and Technology Progress Award of Shandong Province, and three 3rd Prize of Outstanding Science and Technology Progress Award of Shandong Province. At present, the Department is undertaking 3 national projects, 7 provincial and ministerial projects, 3 Jinan municipal projects and 5 hospital scientific research projects. Nearly 50 papers were included in SCI with the total IF exceeding 100. Monographs are Secondary Nephrology (People's Medical Publishing House), Training Guide of Clinical Practice Skills (People's Medical Publishing House) and Clinical Blood Purification (Shandong Science and Technology Press).
Academic Exchange and Cooperation
The Department of Nephrolgy has sent 6 experts to USA, Sweden, Canada, and Israel for advanced studies and participation in the world academic conferences on nephrology. Our expersattended, presented and made speeches on China Nephrology Annual Conference.
The Department of Nephrolgy has invited many experts from USA, Belgium, Canada, Sweden and other countries for academic exchange and built agood cooperative relationship to promote academic development.
As a director unit of the Blood Purification Branch of Shandong Provincial Medical Association, the Department has organized the Shandong Provincial Blood Purification Conference for many times, which creates certain influencein Shandong Province. It is the blood purification training base for hemodialysis and makes contribution to the development of the blood purification in Shandong province.