This is the Third Clinical Hospital of Nanjing Medical University. It has 302 senior medical professionals, 37 master’s and doctoral programs, and one national postdoctoral research station.670 It has a history of performing multi-organ transplants, while kidney and corneal transplants have become its routine surgeries.671 The Nanjing Red Cross Eye Bank is located at this hospital.672

Its cardiothoracic surgery department has led the province. It currently has 3 professors, 6 associate professors, 8 chief physicians, 8 associate chief physicians, 13 attending physicians, and 6 residents, among whom 95% have a doctorate or master’s degree. The department has 120 beds.673

On December 13, 2013, the hospital carried out two heart transplants for one patient.674 This was the second successful heart re-transplant in Jiangsu Province; there have been fewer than 5 such cases nationwide.675

The hospital has also performed two heart transplants simultaneously. According to a people.cn report on June 23, 2014, two patients surnamed Zhang and Li received notice at the same time on May 30 that donor hearts were available. The hospital’s vice president Chen Xin decided that the two heart transplant surgeries would proceed simultaneously. That afternoon, the two patients entered operating rooms at the same time. It took half an hour to transport the donor hearts to the First Hospital. After Chen Xin “installed” a new heart for the first patient, he immediately “installed” a different heart for the second patient. The whole process took over two hours.676

Chen is a well-known cardiothoracic surgery expert. He is the vice chairman of the Jiangsu Medical Association Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgery Society and chairman of the Nanjing Medical Association Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgery Society. In the early 1990s, the hospital began a cooperative relationship with the Ocala Heart Institute in the United States, and Chen was selected to pursue advanced studies in heart transplantation in the U.S. Two years later, Chen studied heart transplantation at the Cleveland Clinic Heart Center. Less than three months after returning to China, he performed a successful heart transplant independently. In 2011, the cardiothoracic surgery department was designated a National Key Clinical Discipline by the Ministry of Health and received 5 million RMB in support from the national government. Chen Xin has also led 20 research projects under the National Natural Science Foundation, made 29 accomplishments of various types,

published more than 140 papers, attended international conferences, and authored academic reports.677 678

Chen Xin’s team has accomplished many national “firsts” in heart transplantation. It performed the earliest heart transplant in the province, carries out the most heart transplants, and has achieved the longest recipient survival time. It also holds the following records:

largest weight difference between donor and recipient (61%, where the difference must normally be less than 20%)

  • heaviest recipient (113 kg / 249 pounds)
  • oldest recipient (71 years)
  • fastest heart transplant operation in China (41 minutes)