Division of Neonatology1

The Division of Neonatology was set up in 1973.Now it covers an area of 1700m2 and accommodates 60 beds for critical ill and high risk newborn babies.The Division comprises a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) and a general neonatal ward.The NICU is a one hundred thousand laminar flow ward, equipped with first-class instruments,such as islands of life,multifunctional baby incubators,ventilators,point-of-care monitors and other advanced apparatus.The Division of Neonatology is now the therapeutic and referral center for critical ill newborns with the most advanced equipment and strongest expertise in Sichuan Province.In China,our division is one of the few divisions that are supported by the National Project for Key Clinical Specialty Development(2011) and the Key Clinical Specialty Program of the Ministry of Health of China (2010).

We admit more than 3000 sick newborns annually,including preterm infants,extremely low birth weight infants,babies with neonatal respiratory distress syndrome,hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy,DIC,respiratory failure,heart failure,newborn hemolytic disease and so on.Most of the patients were critical ill and refractory newborns transferred from other hospital.

We first introduced exchange transfusion therapy in the treatment of hemolytic disease of the newborn in Southwest China. In Sichuan Province, we were one of the first hospitals that practice peripherally inserted central catheter ( PICC ), surfactant therapy to treat or prevent  hyaline membrane disease among RDS babies, inhaled nitric oxide in the treatment of neonatal respiratory failure and persistent fetal circulation, and screening for retinopathy of preterm infants.

With grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China,provincial and ministerial research fundings, we have carried out a lot of research focusing on gene ex-x-pression of human cytomegalovirus(CMV),pathogenesis and clinical manifestations of CMV infection,pathogenesis and early intervention of neonatal hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy,pathogenesis of the organ damage of neonatal asphyxia,especially kidney injury.Over the past five years,we have published more than 300 papers in key academic journals at home and abroad.We were the chief or co-editor of over 10 pediatric monographs.Many prizes from the province,the ministries,and the state have recorded our achievements.

Personnel
In our team, there are 13 physicians and 43 nurses.Most of the physicians have doctoral degrees, and nine physicians have been further trained overseas.Professor MU Dezhi is academic leader.He is president of West China Second University Hospital of Sichuan University and vice chairman of the Subspecialty Group of Neonatology of Pediatric Society of Chinese Medical Association as well.Professor Mu is the first neonatal physician who holds the grant of the China National Funds for Distinguished Young Scientists medicine in China.Professor XIONG Ying, chief of the Division,is vice chairman of Committee of Perinatal Medicine of Sichuan Province.
In 1978,we became one of the few units in China to confer Master's degrees in Pediatrics,and in 1987 the Doctoral degrees.Over the past ten years,we have turned out over sixty postgraduates.Our division is also the training ba-x-se of pediatric clinical doctors in Southwestern China and the only training ba-x-se of NICU nursing in Sichuan Province.