We provide clinical service for both cardiac and thoracic pathologies.

We have developed a high quality world-class service for the most complex of aortic and cardiac cases including multiple valvular surgeries, complex re-operative surgeries (12% of our workload) as well as routine coronary revascularisation procedures. Our mortality for elective coronary revascularisation has been < 1% for the last 5 consecutive years. Our mitral repair programme has flourished and we now have 3D echo for all patients pre and post-operatively with a repair success rate in ischemic and degenerative disease of > 90%. Our aortic surgery programme utilizes a multi-disciplinary approach to provide complete treatment options for complex aortic cases involving interventional radiology, vascular surgery, cardiology and anaesthesia. We opened a 'state of the art' hybrid operating theatre in 2013 to facilitate streamlining of our aortic programme and we have provided endovascular treatments with or without hybrid interventions since 2007. We also provide full spectrum open aortic surgery including aortic root, arch, descending and thoracoabdominal aorta with excellent outcomes.

The thoracic side of our division provides world-class service in areas of minimally invasive video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS) for all thoracic conditions in adults and children, bronchoscopic and airway surgery, minimally invasive and bronchoscopic treatment for emphysema. More recently, the division has become the leader in the region for single port (uniportal) VATS, chest wall resection and reconstruction, and complex surgery utilizing state-of the-art hybrid operating theatre for localization and non-invasive ablation of lung tumours. Our team works closely with the internationally renowned lung cancer group from Department of Clinical Oncology to provide the best possible treatment plan and care for cancer patients.

• Developed an integrated cardiac surgical database which reports outcomes in the public domain supported by the Commerce, Industry and Technology Bureau, The Government of The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. http://www.surgery.cuhk.edu.hk/surgical-audit
• Contributed data to an International Benchmarking Project with The Society for Cardiothoracic Surgery of Great Britain and Ireland: awarded "Best Quality Improvement Initiative" by British Medical Journal 2010. http://www.scts.org/modules/resources/info.aspx?id=31
• Organised the very first 'single-port' lung resection symposium & live surgery in Asia in 2013.
• Co-Conveners for the Asian Cardiothoracic Specialty Update Course in association with the National University Hospital, Singapore and the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh.
• Performed Hong Kong's First Major Chest Wall Reconstruction with MatrixRib Precontour Plate system
• Performed Hong Kong's First Robotic Thoracic Surgery
• Performed Hong Kong's First Single Port (Uniportal) VATS Major Lung Resections (Lobectomy, Pneumonectomy, Segmentectomy and Bilobectomy)
• Performed Hong Kong's first Total Aortic Replacement / Elephant Trunk and sequential endovascular stenting for complex arch/descending aortic dissection using the Sienna (TM) graft http://www.annalscts.com/article/view/2009/2739
• Performed South East Asia's first Total Arch Replacement/ Frozen Elephant Trunk with Thoraflex^TM hybrid stent graft system in Aug 2014
• Performed Asia’s first Nexus^TM arch branched TEVAR for arch aneurysm in 2018
• NTEC Outstanding Team 2018 - Aortic Multidisciplinary Team



• Invited collaborators with the CORE group and the International Aortic Arch Study Group, a worldwide initiative to collate data and define practice in complex aortic surgery. http://www.coregroupinternational.org
• Performed Asia-Pacific's First Hybrid OR Electromagnetic Navigation Bronchoscopy procedure
• Performed Asia-Pacific's First Hybrid OR Navigation Bronchoscopy Microwave Ablation of Lung Cancer
• HA Outstanding Team Award 2021 - Lung Cancer Multidisciplinary Team

The Division has ongoing clinical and basic science research interests which include:

• Systemic responses following cardiopulmonary bypass and minimally invasive surgery
• Molecular biology of lung cancer
• Hybrid operating room navigation bronchoscopy treatment of lung cancer
• Novel endoscope and robotic technologies for thoracic surgery
• Clinical outcomes and monitoring of system processes in clinical practice
• Myocardial endothelial function and protection
• Long term vein graft patency
• Valvular surgery, repair techniques and echo follow-up
• Complex aortic surgery, neuroprotection and outcomes
• 3-D printing guided cardiovascular Intervention- ITF with Division of Cardiology
• Pocket Mobile Echocardiogram screening for Thoracic Aortic Aneurysm- HMRF

• Yu PSY, Chu CM, Lau RWH, Ng CSH.
  Hybrid Theatre Facilitates Lung-Preserving Multimodal Treatment for Multiple Pulmonary Metastases.
  Ann Thorac Surg 2020. doi: 10.1016/j.athoracsur.2020.05.098.
• Chan JWY, Lau RWH, Ng CSH.
  Electromagnetic Navigation Bronchoscopy Fiducial Marker Margin Identification plus Triple Dye for Complete Lung Nodule Resection.
  J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg Techniques 2020. doi: 10.1016/j.xjtc.2020.07.010.
• Fujikawa T, Chow SCY, Chang ATC, Wong RHL.
  Open descending aortic replacement in a patient with a fractured Djumbodis™ dissection system.
  Eur J Cardiothorac Surg. 2020 Jul 1;58(1):199-201. doi: 10.1093/ejcts/ezz367
• Fan YT, Wan S, Wong RH, Lee AP.
  Atrial Functional Mitral Regurgitation: Mechanisms and surgical implications.
  Asian Cardiovasc Thorac Ann 2020 Jul 1;218492320941388
• Chow SC, Wong RH, Lakhani I, Wong MV, Tse G, Yu PS, Ho JY, Fujikawa T, Underwood MJ.
  Management of acute type A intramural hematoma: Upfront surgery or individualized approach? A retrospective analysis and meta-analysis.
  J Thorac Dis. 2020 Mar;12(3):680-689. doi: 10.21037/jtd.2019.12.109.
• Ho JY, Chan JY, Chow SC, Yu PS, Kwok MW, Cheung GS, Wong RH.
  Application of Cerebral Protection System in open mitral replacement with extensive calcified left atrial thrombus.
  Innovations. 2020 Jan/Feb;15(1):85-87. doi: 10.1177/1556984519892242
• Fujikawa T, Kwok M, Ho J, Wong R.
  Open descending aortic replacement after Thoraflex hybrid graft implantation.
  Multimed Man Cardiothorac Surg. 2020 Jan 27;2020. doi: 10.1510/mmcts.2020.004.
• Fan Yiting, Wong RH, Lee AP.
  Three-dimensional printing in structural heart disease and intervention.
  Ann Transl Med. 2019 Oct; 7(20):579. doi: 10.21037/atm.2019.09.73.
• Fujikawa T, Ho JYK, Wong HMK, Wong RHL.
  Open descending aortic replacement after Thoraflex™ hybrid graft implantation.
  Eur J Cardiothorac Surg. 2019 Sep 1;56(3):612-614. doi: 10.1093/ejcts/ezy481
• Fujikawa T, Yamamoto S, Oshima S, Ozaki K, Shimamura J, Asada H, Wong RH.
  Open Surgery for Descending Thoracic Aorta in an Endovascular Era.
  J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg. 2019 Jun;157(6):2168-2174. doi: 10.1016/j.jtcvs.2018.08.094
• Zhang L, Wang L, Kadeer X, Zeyao L, Sun X, Sun W, She Y, Xie D, Li M, Zou L, Rocco G, Yang P, Chen C, Liu CC, Petersen RH, Ng CSH, Parrish S, Zhang YS, Giordano R, di Tommaso L; AME Thoracic Surgery Collaborative Group.
  Accuracy of a 3-Dimensionally Printed Navigational Template for Localizing Small Pulmonary Nodules: A Noninferiority Randomized Clinical Trial.
  JAMA Surg. 2019 Apr 1;154(4):295-303
• Zhang J, Sheng J, Dong L, Xu Y, Yu L, Liu Y, Huang XR, Wan S, Lan HY, Wang HS.
  Cardiomyocyte-specific loss of RMP causes myocardial dysfunction and heart failure.
  Cardiovasc Res 2019;115:1617-1628
• Zhao ZR, Lau RWH, Long H, Mok TSK, Chen GG, Underwood MJ, Ng CSH.
  Novel method for rapid identification of micropapillary or solid components in early-stage lung adenocarcinoma.
  J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg 2018 Dec; 156:2310-8
• Simon C.Y. Chow, Innes Y.P. Wan, Randolph H.L. Wong, Malcolm J. Underwood.
  Transcatheter aortic valve implantation: The evolving role of surgeons and challenges ahead.
  Surgical Practice. 2018 Oct; 12 (22), Issue 4
• Chow SC, Lee AP, Ho AM, Chan HH, Underwood MJ, Wan S.
  Redo tricuspid valve operation in patients with 1st-generation mitral prosthesis.
  Asian Cardiovasc Thorac Ann. 2018 Sep;26(7):524-528
• Zhang J, Yu LM, Xu YL, Liu Y, Li Z, Xue XD, Wan S, Wang HS.
  Long noncoding RNA upregulated in hypothermia treated cardiomyocytes protects against myocardial infarction through improving mitochondrial function.
  Int J Card 2018;266:213–217
• Zhao ZR, Lau RWH, Ng CSH.
  Hybrid theatre and uniportal VATS: the perfect match for lung nodule localization.
  Thorac Surg Clin 2017 Nov;27(4):347-55
• Chow SC, Cheung GS, Lee AP, Wu EB, Ho JY, Kwok MK, Yu PS, Wan IY, Underwood MJ, Wong RH.
  Transcatheter aortic valve implantation: the transaortic approach.
  Asian Cardiovasc Thorac Ann. 2017 Jun;25(5):357-363
• Zhao ZR, Situ DR, Lau RWH, Mok TSK, Chen GG, Underwood MJ, Ng CSH.
  Comparison of segmentectomy and lobectomy in stage IA adenocarcinomas.
  J Thorac Oncol 2017 May;12(5):890-896
• Liang WH, He JX, Shen YX, Shen JF, He QH, Zhang JR, Jiang GN, Wang Q, Liu LX, Gao SG, Liu DR, Wang Z, Zhu ZH, Ng CSH, Liu CC, Petersen RH, Rocco G, D’Amico T, Brunelli A, Chen HQ, Zhi XY, Liu B, Yang YX, Chen WS, Zhou Q, He JX.
  Impact of Examined Lymph Node Count on Precise Staging and Long-term Survival of Resected NSCLC: A Population Study of the U.S. SEER Database and a Chinese Multi-Institutional Registry.
  J Clin Oncol 2017 Apr 10;35(11):1162-1170
• Ng CSH, Zhao ZR, Lau RWH.
  Tailored Therapy for Stage I Non-small Cell Lung Cancer.
  J Clin Oncol 2017 Jan;35(3):268-270
• Wang L, Luo JY, Li B, Tian XY, Chen LJ, Huang YH, Liu J, Deng D, Lau CW, Wan S, Ai D, Mak K, Tong KK, Kwan KM, Wang NP, Chiu JJ, Zhu Y, Huang Y.
  Integrin-YAP/TAZ-JNK cascade mediates atheroprotective effect of unidirectional shear flow.
  Nature 2016 Dec;540:579-582
• Dai CY, Shen JF, Ren YJ, Zhong SY, Zheng H, He JX, Xie D, Fei K, Liang WH, Jiang G, Yang P, Petersen RH, Ng CSH, Liu CC, Brunelli A, Chen C, He JX, written on behalf of the AME Thoracic Surgery Collaborative Group.
  Choice of surgical procedure for patients with NSCLC ≤1 cm or >1 to 2 cm among lobectomy, segmentectomy and wedge resection: A population-based study.
  J Clin Oncol 2016 Sept 10;34(26):3175-82
• Chow SC, Ng CS.
  Recent developments in video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery for pulmonary nodule management.
  J Thorac Dis. 2016 jul;8(Suppl 6):S509-16
• Gonzalez-Rivas D, Yang Y, Ng C.
  Advances in Uniportal Video-Assisted Thoracoscopic Surgery: Pushing the Envelope.
  Thorac Surg Clinics 2016 May; 26(2):187-201
• Chow SC, Wong RH, Yu SC, Wan IY , Kwok MK, Underwood MJ.
  Arch in the Neck - Haughton Type D Aortic Arch Aneurysm.
  Ann Thorac Surg. 2016 Feb; 101(2):774-5
• Ng CSH, Yu SCH, Lau RWH, Yim APC.
  Hybrid Dyna - CT Guided Electromagnetic Navigational Bronchoscopic Biopsy.
  Eur J Cardiothorac Surg 2016 Jan;48(S1):i87-88