Departments and Specialties

Respiratory Disease Center

At the Respiratory Disease Center, the staff of internal medicine and surgery work as a team to provide diagnosis and treatment for respiratory diseases quickly and accurately. Especially for malignant tumors in the chest, including lung cancer, we actively provide multidisciplinary therapy involving surgical treatment, cancer chemotherapy and radiation therapy by working together in the Center.
The medical diseases we often treat include bronchial asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, infectious diseases, primary lung cancer, and interstitial pneumonia; lung cancer accounts for the highest number of inpatient treatment cases. For outpatient care, we focus on quick and accurate diagnosis and treatment of prolonged/chronic coughs as well as hospital and clinic cooperation.
Regarding diseases requiring surgery, we provide surgical treatments for primary lung cancer, metastatic lung tumor, mediastinal tumor, spontaneous pneumothorax, and thoracic trauma, as well as laser treatment for respiratory tract tumor.

We are constantly improving the quality of our daily clinical practice through Chest Conference meetings, the main purpose of which is to correlate images with pathology, and case examination meetings held jointly by the entire Respiratory Disease Center, with the participation of multiple specialties including doctors, nurses, pharmacists, physical therapists, and nutritionists, in addition to daily meetings.

Digestive Disease Center

At the Digestive Disease Center, the staff of internal medicine and surgery work as a team to maximize the treatment effects with minimum burden, and conduct everything from diagnosis to treatment consistently. We handle a wide range of endoscopic diagnosis and treatment in the digestive region, mainly in the large intestine, and provide high-quality testing that is friendly to the patient.
We aim to discover diseases in the early stages with precise endoscopy, and place minimal burden on the patient with endoscopic and laparoscopic therapy unless curability is compromised. We also flexibly handle diseases in the liver, bile duct and pancreas, and have a system to treat all types of digestive diseases.

We coordinate mutually and smoothly with practitioners in the area through Doctor to Doctor and cooperative study groups, and try to ensure that patients receive appropriate care with continuity within the region.

We have been evaluated highly both internally and externally as a facility specialized in digestive disease medicine with the International Center of Endoscopy established as an annex, and are certified by the World Endoscopy Organization (WEO) as a WEO Center of Excellence (there are only 17 such facilities in the world, of which two are in Japan).

Cardiovascular Center

Cardiovascular Surgery

In January 2018, the Cardiovascular Center became a department specialized in cardiovascular surgery treatment of adults such as angina, myocardial infarction, valvular disease, and aortic disease (Department of Cardiovascular Surgery), as the pediatric cardiac disease group relocated to Showa University Hospital in Hatanodai. We intend to work even more actively in close cooperation with the group led by Dr. Masahiko Ochiai at the Department of Cardiology.
Each day, our group of specialists including myself (Akihiro Nabuchi), Drs. Hiroshi Okuyama, Hirofumi Nakagawa, Hirohito Terada, and many other surgeons, conduct surgeries on various acquired cardiac diseases such as minimally invasive coronary artery bypass, valvoplasty, and prosthetic replacement including coronary artery bypass without using an artificial heart-lung machine, surgical left ventricular reconstruction on aortic aneurysm or left ventricular dysfunction.

Personalized medical service is available in our unit,which means not systematic,not too much theoreticai practice has been performed.Beacause all the patient and your condition,way of thinking are quite diversified(Alle Klankheit ist wundertätig!~”Der Zauberberg “) .
However,  you should remind that it is necessary to do something harmful to some degree　at the time of surgical procedure(Ils ne savent toucher le coeur qu`en le froissant ~Le Rouge et Le Noir),in trying minimizing it.

Cardiology

We handle cardiovascular medicine for adults in general.
Cardiovascular diseases often require emergency treatment, and our Department has established a hotline network among local doctors and ambulance services in the area in order to provide emergency medicine 24/7 all year round.
While ischemic heart diseases including acute myocardial infarction are the most frequent diseases that we treat, other major diseases that we treat include peripheral vessel diseases such as arteriosclerosis obliterans, tachyarrhythmia such as atrial fibrillation, and bradyarrhythmia which requires a pacemaker.
In 2019, we carried out 528 cases of percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), and were successful in 525 of these (99.4%). In principle, Professor Ochiai conducts elective PCI on chronic total occlusion which is difficult to treat, with a success rate of 29 out of 30 cases (96.7%).
There were 95 cases in which we conducted emergency PCI for acute myocardial infarction, etc.
Of all the cases we treated, 354 (67.0%) were treated by the transradial approach to reduce the burden on patients.
Since the advent of the drug-eluting coronary stent, which is called ‘second generation’ with an extremely low restenosis rate, the number of cases requiring re-treatment after surgery has decreased.
It is possible to treat safely by implementing debulking with rotational atherectomy in cases where a balloon cannot be brought in due to strong calcification, or in cases where balloon dilation cannot be conducted. In 2019, we used rotational atherectomy in 23 cases.
There were also 124 cases of catheter intervention on peripheral vessels in the iliac artery, superficial femoral artery, renal artery, etc., 253 cases of catheter ablation for tachyarrhythmia, and 91 cases of treatment with pacemaker devices.
Professor Ochiai also conducts demonstrations and instructions mainly on the PCI technique on lesions with chronic total occlusion in various academic societies including the American College of Cardiology (ACC) and many other countries.

Thyroid Center

We are the only thyroid center among all university hospitals in Japan. As the Departments of Surgery, Internal Medicine, Otorhinolaryngology, Ophthalmology, Radiology, and Pathology and Laboratory Medicine cooperate on diagnosis and treatment without borders among departments, we can offer the best choice for the patient among various therapies for thyroid and parathyroid diseases. We adopt various creative approaches in surgical treatments to make sure that the wounded part will not be highly visible after the operation. We also actively incorporate non-surgical treatments (interventions). Please seek a consultation with us. Our Department is the only facility in Japan which conducts thyroid radiofrequency treatment, and we have now treated more than 250 cases.
As a university hospital, we can provide treatments in coordination with various other departments and the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), even when there are complications.

Characteristics of the Thyroid Center

• It is the first thyroid center at a university hospital in Japan, and the team specializes in thyroid diseases beyond the boundaries of departments.
• It can treat serious cases and cases with the risk of complications that cannot be handled by private specialized hospitals, and can provide multidisciplinary therapy.
• It is the only facility in Japan which conducts radiofrequency ablation of thyroid nodules, which is a non-surgical treatment, and can coordinate with the Departments of Surgery, Internal Medicine and Radiology.

Goals of the Thyroid Center

• We hope to make it the leading facility in Japan in the diagnosis and treatment of thyroid diseases, and to provide world-class medicine in all surgical, drug and intervention treatments.
• We will seamlessly coordinate with other medical facilities in the community and strengthen such coordination. We accept patients 24/7 all year round, as well as consultations, referrals and requests by e-mail. The doctors at the Center will directly respond and make arrangements with responsibility. We will immediately respond if you contact us in an emergency, quasi-emergency patient referral, or even minor questions.

Children's medical Center

The Children’s Medical Center at Showa University Northern Yokohama Hospital has specialists in pediatric medicine, pediatric surgery and neonatology, and more than 20 doctors provide comprehensive medical care for children as a team. Our Hospital is located in the center of the northern part of Yokohama City, and has good access from Tsuzuki, Aoba, Midori, and Kohoku Wards. As a result, it is expected to serve as a core hospital for pediatric emergencies and intensive care. We strive to offer heartfelt care, standing beside not only the patient but also the patient’s family with the motto of "truly contributing to pediatric medicine in the community." In addition, we liaise beyond boundaries with the Department of Pediatrics, Showa University Fujigaoka Hospital, which is located in Aoba Ward, and have established a system for providing diagnosis and treatment in mutual cooperation for any kind of disease.

The Department of Pediatric Surgery not only performs surgeries but also actively adopts conservative therapies such as sponge compression therapy for umbilical hernia and drug treatment for constipation, and also treats boundary-region diseases such as pediatric urologic diseases. In addition, when surgery is necessary we try to select the least invasive operation with a better esthetic outcome. In inguinal hernia operations which account for the largest number of cases, most are amenable to laparoscopic percutaneous extraperitoneal closure (LPEC). Since operation with two ports in the umbilical part and the lateral region of the abdomen is possible with LPEC, and since tools of 2- to 3-mm are used, it is possible to ensure extremely good postoperative esthetic outcome. It also leaves less postoperative pain, and reduces the possibility of contralateral hernia development after the operation by observing both sides.

Our Hospital is designated as a regional perinatal medical center, and serves as a core hospital in the Yokohama Block. The northern region has a larger number of births than other regions in the Yokohama Block, and thus generates high needs for neonatal medicine. To respond to these needs, our Hospital treats a wide range of patients, from extremely low birth weight infants of less than 1000 g to newborns who develop diseases after birth. For congenital heart diseases, we have a cooperative system with the Pediatric Cardiovascular Disease Center, Adult Congenital Heart Center, Showa University Hospital. In diagnosis and treatment, we try to provide family integrated care, in which we provide neonatal medicine while considering the family as partners in medical care.
In the future, we intend to establish an educational system whereby the medical staff can always provide the best medicine with the latest knowledge, enabling us to effectively handle ever-diversifying diseases.

Female Pelvic Health Center

Mental care Center

The Mental Care Center is in charge of medicine in psychiatry and neurology. As a base hospital in psychiatric emergency medicine in Kanagawa Prefecture, we have a super-emergency ward (emergency psychiatric inpatient ward) with 42 beds to handle involuntary admissions and secondary emergency admissions every day, and a geriatric psychiatric ward with 50 beds which mainly handles the treatment of dementia. In acute phase treatment, we provide modified electroconvulsive therapy in cooperation with the Department of Anesthesiology, as well as treatment with oral administration of clozapine. As special outpatient services, we offer developmental disorder outpatient services for diagnosis and consultation on developmental disorders.
As a psychiatry department in a general hospital, we work on team medicine which provides holistic care including mental symptoms in cooperation with other departments of the hospital through the liaison team and palliative care team.

Emergency Center

Since the founding of the hospital, the Emergency Center has been managed mainly by the Department of Emergency Medicine. Although we are a designated secondary emergency hospital, we also actively accept serious cases that may be taken to a designated tertiary emergency hospital serving as a core hospital in the region. We also dispatch DMAT as a disaster base hospital.
In addition to handling patients brought into the Emergency Center, we handle code blue cases (cases with sudden changes within the hospital).
We also participate in the Yokohama City Medical Control Council, and hold study groups for critical care medical advisors for Yokohama City Fire Bureau (instructions on designated procedures), and prehospital care to improve the prehospital medical care.

Palliative Care Center

The Palliative Care Center was established as a center in 2019 by bringing together the palliative care team, palliative care outpatient services, cancer nursing outpatient services, cancer consultation, etc. with the doctors of the Department of Palliative Medicine and the General Manager (GM) at the center. We provide symptom reduction for cancer patients inside and outside the hospital and their families.
In the palliative care ward, we reduce the painful symptoms of the patients by coordinating with hospital departments and special teams (oral care team, liaison team, bedsore team, cancer rehabilitation, etc.). We accept patients into the palliative care ward from not only within the hospital but also other hospitals and clinics to reduce the painful symptoms and actively arrange discharges to home or other facilities. We also promote hospital-clinic cooperation and hospital-hospital cooperation in palliative medicine within the community.
Please feel free to contact us if you have questions.

Internal Medicine

Dermatology

Radiology

The diagnostic section is in charge of image diagnosis and interventional radiology (IVR). In image diagnosis, radiogram interpretation reports by specialists are quickly prepared for all tests using CT, MRI and nuclear medicine scanning. We have established an environment to conduct high-quality image diagnosis, where we prepare images under the optimized exposure protocol and latest image processing techniques for each test, and perform diagnosis using multiple display monitors. Our Hospital also has a PET-CT. In IVR, we mainly conduct transcatheter embolization, embolization for bleeding, embolization for visceral artery aneurysm, vascular malformation, digestive tract varix, etc., image-guided biopsy and drainage, central venous port implantation, radiofrequency ablation, percutaneous vertebroplasty, etc.
The treatment section proposes the best therapy for each patient by using the latest radiation therapy devices. We try to reduce the adverse effects while improving the treatment effect by providing diverse, meticulous treatments including 3-dimensional conformal radiation, stereotactic radiation therapy, and Rapid-arc, which is an advanced form of intensity modulated radiation therapy. We provide standardized treatment in close coordination with Showa University Hospital and other associated facilities and by examining the treatment policy and method.

Pathology and Laboratory Medicine

At present, we are inviting new colleagues to study pathology and laboratory medicine with us. Our Department handles numerous cases in unbiased fields, and has many autopsy cases, which provides the foundation for pathology and laboratory medicine. There are also multiple medical advisors with different specialty areas as well as young doctors who are training to be specialists, which makes our department an excellent environment in which to start training in pathology. If you wish to be a specialist in pathology, a clinician who understands pathology, if you are a young student aiming to be a medical intern in the initial or senior stage, or if you are already actively working as a clinician, we welcome you. How training will be given and its period can be flexibly set up depending on the purpose. Please feel free to contact us.​

Surgery

While we practice medicine as a general department in surgery, we actively incorporate non-surgical treatments (interventions) in addition to surgery mainly for thyroid and parathyroid diseases. Our Department is the only facility in Japan that can conduct thyroid radiofrequency treatment, and we have performed more than 250 such cases. With the Thyroid Center established in April 2019, we are providing diagnosis and treatment with increased specialty.
There are also many cases of inguinal hernia, and we handle one of the largest number of cases in the prefecture. We also handle benign anus diseases such as hemorrhoid with surgical treatments that impose little burden.
Specialists will meticulously handle everything from diagnosis to treatment of mammary gland diseases, especially breast cancer. Two part-time doctors provide diagnosis and treatment in addition to the full-time doctors.
Specialist doctors will handle diagnosis and treatment in plastic surgery as an independent department. We practice medicine while considering the feelings of the patient as our first priority in the treatment of congenital abnormalities, skin/soft tissue tumors, facial injuries (including broken bones) and other plastic surgery cases in general.

Neurosurgery

Orthopedic Surgery

Obstetrics and Gynecology

At our Hospital, we aim to provide early discovery and treatment of obstetrical and gynecological diseases for all ages and conduct health management as a "department for women" which handles their entire lives, instead of only covering the specialized fields of perinatology, gynecologic oncology and endoscopic surgery.
For acute phase diseases, we function as a core hospital of the northern region of Yokohama City by actively reverse-referring or referring to a regular doctor in coordination with other medical facilities in the area when treatment is completed at our Hospital.

Urology

As a base hospital in the northern medical zone of Yokohama City, we handle urologic diseases in general, including urologic tumors, calculi, and infectious diseases. At present, we have seven urologists (of which three are specialists/medical advisors in urology and one specialist in urology), who conduct approximately 400 surgeries each year. We especially have many cases of malignant urologic tumors (cancer) such as renal cancer, bladder cancer and prostate cancer, and provide diagnosis and treatment using surgery, anticancer chemotherapy, radiation therapy, etc. to fulfill our heavy responsibility as a center hospital for cancer medicine in the region.

Ophthalmology

Otorhinolaryngology

The philosophy of our Department is to "work on not only the treatment of otorhinolaryngologic diseases but also their prevention," and we provide daily life guidance to all of our patients in addition to treating their diseases.
With endoscopic surgeries on sinusitis as well as nasal and paranasal sinus tumors being the most frequent, we provide surgical treatments of chronic tonsillitis, benign head and neck tumors, otitis media, and pediatric otorhinolaryngologic diseases, treatments of infectious diseases in otorhinolaryngologic areas, and treatments to help patients with nicotine dependence quit smoking.

1. Sinusitis (empyema), allergic rhinitis
2. Tonsillitis
3. Benign head and neck tumors
4. Vertigo
5. Hearing impairment
6. Acute pharyngolaryngitis

Major results of diagnosis and treatment
Surgery cases: Approx. 1,000 cases from April 2019 to March 2020
Number of cases by major type of surgery
198 cases of endoscopic sinus surgery, 184 cases of tonsillectomy, 128 cases of septoplasty, 234 cases of submucosal turbinectomy, 6 cases of parathyroid gland surgery, 12 cases of parotid tumor surgery, 6 cases of submandibular gland excision, and 67 cases of eardrum tube insertion

	FY 2017	FY 2018	FY 2019
Number of endoscopic sinus surgeries	115	153	198

Anesthesiology

Dental Anesthesiology

You may not have heard the term “dental anesthesiology.”
Many people think of an injection (local anesthesia) when we talk about anesthesia in dentistry.
The Department of Dental Anesthesiology performs general anesthesia or intravenous sedation on patients who cannot be treated at most dental clinics in general.
We can conduct general anesthesia as a day procedure at this hospital.
Since the day procedure is done on a Saturday, our patients can receive the treatment without taking a day off from school or work and go home on the same day.

Rehabilitation Medicine

The three pillars of medicine are "treatment, prevention, and rehabilitation", which are said to "support life, health and lifestyle." Showa University is a medical university that comprises the Schools of Medicine, Dentistry, Pharmacy, and Nursing and Rehabilitation Sciences (Departments of Nursing, Physical Therapy and Occupational Therapy) as well as eight university hospitals. The Department of Rehabilitation Medicine makes maximum use of being a part of Showa University, and has the goal of supporting the life, health and lifestyle of patients. Rehabilitation at this Hospital also follows this philosophy in practicing medicine.
Of all the hospitals of Showa University, our Hospital is responsible for acute phase medicine and specialized medicine in the northern region of Yokohama City, and admits many patients. Our Department adopts an approach to rehabilitation that aims to enable admitted patients to return to their lives more quickly and in better shape, under the instructions and supervision of rehabilitation specialists.
While our Hospital has long practiced the function therapies of physical therapy and occupational therapy, we added speech therapy in April 2020. Function therapies are specially provided to patients who are admitted to our Hospital, and not provided as an outpatient treatment.

Early rehabilitation

Evidence is accumulating that starting rehabilitation early leads to better results, and the timing of starting rehabilitation is brought forward each year. At our Hospital, we actively start rehabilitation during the hyperacute phase at the Emergency Center or Intensive Care Unit, while the condition of the disease is still unstable. We also try to minimize the time lag from the rehabilitation request until the start of it in other wards.

Team approach

Rehabilitation requires the involvement of people in various specialties, and team medicine by multiple occupations is important. At our Department, we regularly hold meetings with the participation of multiple occupations, and conduct rehabilitation while reconfirming the direction, objectives, etc. In addition, we are again placing importance on cross-sectional activities with the participation of multiple occupations including the nutritional support team and bedsore management team. Especially for dysphagia, we take a comprehensive approach to provide swallowing training by speech therapists/occupational therapists, and eating function therapy by ward nurses after the evaluation by doctors of our Department including videofluoroscopic and videoendoscopic evaluations of swallowing, with follow-ups by the swallowing support team in meetings and rounds.

Dentistry and Oral Surgery

Our Department provides diagnosis and treatment in the oral surgery area in general, including oral mucosal diseases, infectious diseases in teeth, and oral injuries. To provide safe and effective treatments, we conduct surgical treatments under intravenous anesthesia or general anesthesia in coordination with the Department of Dental Anesthesiology. In April 2020, we also started providing dental treatments for the disabled under intravenous anesthesia or general anesthesia in cooperation with the Department of Clinic for Persons with Disorders at Showa University Dental Hospital.
Our Department mainly consults patients who are referred by doctors within the Hospital or doctors in the region. If you are seeking a consultation for the first time, please bring a medical referral letter from your regular doctor.

Center for Clinical Genetics and Genomic Medicine

In line with the dramatic advances in genetic analysis technology in recent years, the importance of gene diagnosis and therapy has been on the increase in various hospital departments, including diagnosis of diseases, determination of the treatment policy, prediction of future incidence, sharing of genetic information with blood relatives, etc. by conducting genetic tests.
To handle these matters beyond the boundaries of departments, the Center for Clinical Genetics and Genomic Medicine was founded in April 2020.
In addition to prenatal diagnosis, diagnosis and treatment of congenital diseases, and genetic counseling across multiple areas which used to be handled by each department, we will start cancer genome medicine based on the genetic information of individual tumor cells as we have been designated as a Core Hospital for Cancer Genomic Medicine in 2020.
Bringing all of these together at the Center, three medical geneticists, doctors and pharmacists who are well versed in cancer treatments, and certified genetic counselors will form a team and provide high-quality genetic diagnosis and treatment that is easy to understand.