The Surgeon’s Studio

“What’s wrong, Manager Feng?” Zheng Ren asked.

“Chief Zheng… I… Have I offended you in some way?” Feng Xuhui asked hesitantly.

“Did you? What happened?” Zheng Ren looked confused.

Su Yun glanced at him with disdain. Was this man really that obtuse?

“This afternoon…”

Zheng Ren realized what Manager Feng was referring to and quickly said, “Oh, that. I wanted to speak with Su Yun privately then. Everything is fine.”

The words did little to improve Feng Xuhui’s spirits, but he did not pursue the topic, choosing instead to follow the two men to the interventional surgery department.

They met up with Department Chief Kong and Dr. Shen before heading to the genitourinary department together.

The patient was a 87-year-old man with severe coronary heart disease. His left anterior descending artery had 70% blockage even after a stent surgery, which had ended in him having a weakened respiratory system and impaired blood clotting due to the warfarin prescribed after.

This was considered a high-risk patient.

Any surgery at this stage risked the patient dying from a cardiac arrest on the operating table.

However, the prostate surgery was necessary to reduce swelling and restore normal urine output. Otherwise, he would require a permanent urinary catheter or a cystostomy to relieve his bladder—a procedure that carried similar risk.

Overall, the old man’s quality of living had deteriorated despite not having terminal disease.

The patient’s sons were all in their sixties, resembling a meeting of the Bureau of Retired Officials as they crowded around the hospital bed.

Once they understood their father’s condition, they swiftly agreed to the experimental surgery.

While the surgery’s success was not guaranteed, they were willing to take the chance. It was better than having to install a permanent urinary catheter, which was not only inconvenient but ran the risk of urinary tract infections. A severe urinary tract infection could also lead to abdominal complications.

The visit to the ward confirmed Zheng Ren’s suspicion—the surgery had to be minimally invasive.

Zheng Ren said nothing in order to not worry the patient as they brought him to the CT room for his scan. A slot was also arranged for Qin Liren. Once the scans were complete, Zheng Ren proceeded with retrograde reconstruction.

By the time the scans were complete, it was past clock-out time.

He was able to work in relative peace and quiet, which was a relief as the capillaries in the prostate were very fine.

It was much harder than identifying the tumor-feeding arteries in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma.

All the while, Department Chief Kong sat beside Zheng Ren and watched in awe.

He had initially assumed that Zheng Ren’s flawless reconstructions stemmed from an unparalleled expertise in liver cancer.

Now, the man seemed to be equally proficient in prostate reconstruction.

How could a self-described general surgeon be so familiar with the prostate? Department Chief Kong had gotten used to being surprised by Zheng Ren’s and Su Yun’s skills, but this reconstruction still amazed him.

3D reconstruction of the prostate was complicated by its network of capillaries. A normal CT scan could not clearly convey the intricacy of such a network, which necessitated Zheng Ren having to pick out scans in order to piece together a full picture.

Department Chief Kong was focused on the reconstruction when his phone rang.

He answered it begrudgingly. “Hello.” A moment later, he rose abruptly from his seat.

“I’m on the way now.”

“Chief Kong, what happened?” Zheng Ren asked, his fingers not slowing down an iota.

“It’s an emergency. You keep doing what you’re doing,” Department Chief Kong said gruffly.

With that, he turned and left the CT room.

“Did you hear anything?” Zheng Ren asked.

“No, but I presume it’s because the surgery by that German professor from Sorcery Capital has ended,” Su Yun replied.

“I see.” Zheng Ren continued the reconstruction.

“Is there a point doing this still?”

“I don’t know, but I’m going to do my best. Otherwise, what will happen to this patient? Do you think that German professor will come to help him?” Zheng Ren steeled himself and continued charging headfirst into the unknown.

…

…

The research center had many meeting rooms.

Wu Haishi, Professor Pei and others were crammed into one along with Li Haitao, who was frowning. The playback started just as Department Chief Kong arrived.

“Little Li, is it true?” Department Chief Kong clung onto a sliver of hope.

“Chief Kong, their surgery ended at 4.15 pm. Have a seat and we will see if ours is even necessary,” Li Haitao said.

A grim expression crossed Department Chief Kong’s face and he took a seat in the front row.

He did not question the video’s source. These people would not be here if it was unverified.

“Good day, everyone. A brief reminder: today, at 1400 hours, Heidelberg University’s Professor Rudolf Wagner performed an interventional prostate interventional embolization. At 1615 hours, the surgery was announced a success. Let’s watch the recording.”

Li Haitao hit the play button.

The video was not an artistic masterpiece. Its beginning had been edited to exclude presurgical preparations, so the prostatography was the first thing onscreen.

The guide wire entered the abdominal aorta, then traveled to the common iliac artery. Imaging began when it finally reached the internal iliac artery.

It was a complex tangle of blood vessels.

The recording’s resolution was mediocre at best and none of them could not make out which vessel led to the prostatic artery.

In the expert hands of Professor Rudolph Wagner, the guide wire moved from the internal iliac artery to a peripheral vessel. This was part of superselection.

The guide wire advanced effortlessly through the winding arteries, seemingly at home.

Department Chief Kong turned and asked Wu Haishi beside him, “Old Wu, do you think the guide wire was custom-made?”

“Should be. It doesn’t look like a normal guide wire,” Old Wu said.

Department Chief Kong shook his head. Their efforts felt in vain compared to a world-class surgeon with unlimited resources.

Perhaps it was as Li Haitao had implied: there was no point in pursuing this avenue of research.

The arterial superselection was a success.

After a few failed attempts to maneuver the guide wire into smaller branching arteries from the superior vesical artery[1], the professor gave upland inserted the guide catheter to perform the embolization.

The surgical procedure was simple in theory but harder in practice.

Its success was a testament to the surgeon’s skill and the quality of materials used.

Wu Haishi let out a deep sigh. Department Chief Kong empathized.

At the thought of capitulation, the silhouette of Zheng Ren hard at work before the CT scan console appeared in Department Chief Kong’s mind.

[1] According to Wikipedia, the prostatic branch stems from the middle rectal artery but the author uses 膀胱上动脉.