The discipline was founded and is led by Professor Liu Kexiang, who currently serves as a standing committee member of the Chinese Society of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery of the Chinese Medical Association, a standing committee member of the Cardiovascular Surgeons Branch of the Chinese Medical Doctor Association, the vice leader of the Great Vessels Group of the Chinese Society of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, the vice leader of the Coronary Group of the Cardiovascular Surgeons Branch of the Chinese Medical Doctor Association, and the director of the Cardiovascular Surgery Branch of the Jilin Provincial Medical Association and Medical Doctor Association. The discipline is now a National Regional Medical Center for Cardiovascular Diseases jointly established by the provincial and national government, a National Key Medical Specialty, a Jilin Provincial Clinical Medicine Research Center, a Jilin Provincial Great Vessel Diseases Diagnosis and Treatment Center, the leading unit of the Jilin Provincial Great Vessel Diseases Medical Alliance, a Jilin Provincial International Science and Technology Cooperation Base, a Jilin Provincial Precision Diagnosis and Treatment Engineering Laboratory for Great Vessel Diseases, a Jilin Provincial Key Laboratory for Cardiovascular and Great Vessel Diseases, and a Jilin Provincial Clinical Medicine Research Center for Great Vessel Diseases. The discipline ranks first in the province and was ranked 12th nationally in the 2019 STEM (Science and Technology Evaluation Metrics) for Chinese Hospitals.

The department currently has 70 medical, nursing, and technical staff, including 7 senior title holders, 2 associate senior title holders, 9 doctoral degree holders, 1 doctoral supervisor, and 5 master's supervisors. There are 53 open beds, including 10 ICU beds, with an annual average bed utilization rate of 111.25%. The department admits nearly 1,500 cardiovascular disease patients annually and performs over 1,100 surgeries each year. The cardiovascular surgery department has pioneered advancements in the surgical treatment of great vessel diseases, coronary heart disease, atrial fibrillation, and other areas, filling gaps in Jilin Province and even nationwide. Coronary surgery has reached a domestically leading level, while great vessel surgery has achieved international leadership. Among its achievements, the department has invented 11 new surgical techniques, including the Liu's Aortic Arch Replacement and Liu's Aortic Root Reconstruction. It was the first in Northeast China to independently perform surgical treatments for great vessel diseases, the first in the world to adopt mild hypothermic circulatory arrest and blood transfusion-free surgery for Stanford Type A aortic dissection, and the first globally to perform Stanford Type A aortic dissection surgery without blood transfusion. The department independently performed the first heart transplant in the province, pioneered independent coronary artery bypass grafting in the province, was the first in China to use bipolar radiofrequency ablation modified Maze IV surgery for atrial fibrillation, and introduced minimally invasive surgery in Northeast China, including fully thoracoscopic cardiac surgery and minimally invasive surgery for Stanford Type A aortic dissection.