The specialty of pulmonary vascular medicine in China: historical development and future directions.

Over the past 40 years, Chinese experts have made great progress on research, diagnosis, and therapy of pulmonary vascular disease, including pulmonary embolism and pulmonary hypertension. These theoretical and clinical advances have increased public awareness about this group of conditions, which are associated with significant morbidity and mortality in China and worldwide. With its theoretical basis combining knowledge from cardiovascular and pulmonary medicine, pulmonary vascular disease has developed into a separate, unique specialty in hospitals across China and worldwide. This article will provide a short historical perspective but also an outlook into the future of this exciting novel discipline. We provide a Chinese perspective, based on our research and clinic experience over the past decades.