Chapter 51: What is this? (1)

Tap.

Tap.

Suhyuk, with his cane, struggled to move from the bed onto the elevator. For some reason, he was accompanied by a neurology resident who had been administering artificial respiration, an intern pulling the bed, and the director of the hospital.

“Did you make a reservation?”

Lee Hyunjong briefly checked the patient’s blood pressure, heart rate, etc., before turning towards Suhyuk.

“Yes, Dr. Lee. The emergency angiography room is available.”

“Well, it isn’t due to lack of facilities but rather the absence of skilled personnel.”

In response to Suhyuk’s remark, Lee Hyunjong made a pointed comment while watching the slowly changing numbers on the elevator display. Despite being incredibly close, located just on the third floor, the angiography room felt far away amidst the urgency of the situation.

Being with a patient who was dying in real-time made him anxious.

“I told them to get something faster… Hospitals spend money as soon as it comes in.”

Lee Hyunjong muttered this, but despite his words, the elevator remained stuck on the third floor.

‘Something is indeed strange.’

[Once I gain more psychiatric experience, I would like to attempt a diagnosis at least once.]

‘Don’t talk nonsense.’

[Ah, the door is opening.]

‘Let’s hurry. My walking speed is slow.’

[I need to fix this too.]

Baruda murmured while sensing Suhyuk’s limping legs.

Upon hearing these words, Suhyuk asked Baruda with some anticipation:

‘Is there any method?’

[No, not yet.]

‘Why raise my expectations for nothing?’

[I haven’t accumulated knowledge in that area, Suhyuk.]

‘Don’t make excuses…’

Despite Suhyuk’s constant chatter, he managed to run towards the angiography room without getting lost once. It was partly due to his experience as a student intern here, but more so because Baruda had memorized the hospital layout.

Vmmm.

Thanks to this, despite moving at a somewhat leisurely pace, Suhyuk entered the angiography room first.

“Ah, Dr. Shin, you’re here!”

As soon as the door opened, two technicians inside promptly stood up and greeted him formally. As someone who used to be ignored or treated like a mere errand boy during his internship, Suhyuk found it quite peculiar.

‘Indeed, indeed, people change when they climb the ladder.’

In the past, Baru would have immediately criticized such behavior, but now, understanding Suhyuk’s position, he remained silent.

“Ah ah. No need for such formalities. Let’s get ready.” In contrast, Lee Hyunjong was not interested in pleasantries or rituals. He solely focused on interesting cases and patients.

“Yes, Dr. Lee. Please come this way.”

Naturally, the knights were well aware of the director’s preferences, so everything had been perfectly prepared. Considering Suhyuk made the call only ten minutes ago, it seemed almost impossible to achieve this level of readiness.

“Good. Suhyuk, put on your gown as well. Many people have suffered due to negligence.”

“Yes, sir.”

Suffered? Wasn’t it excessive to suffer both leg pain and nerve damage? Suhyuk desperately nodded and struggled to put on his gown while limping.

“And wear a surgical gown over that. And you…what’s your name?”

“I am Choi Junyoung, third-year neurology resident, sir.”

“Ah, Neurology. Keep applying pressure there. Intern, help move the patient onto the surgical table. Make sure not to dislocate his arm. Arm… I always get complaints about their arms being sore during these procedures.”

“Yes…”

Choi Junyoung wondered why Dr. Lee asked for his name when he already knew it as he gripped the ambulance stretcher tightly with all his strength.

“One, two…”

The knights and intern worked together to transfer the patient onto the operating table.

“Now, disinfect the patient. You know it needs to be done on the right thigh near the blood vessel, correct?”

‘Of course. Do you think I’m stupid?’

“[Mm-hmm.]”

‘Hmm?’

“No worries. Use Betadine, yes. Right there. Good.”

Meanwhile, Suhyuk had finished donning his gown, cut open the patient’s pants with scissors, and picked up the Betadine solution.

Following Baruda’s guidance, Suhyuk gently wiped at the blood vessel on the patient’s right thigh.

Lee Hyunjong once again burst out with admiration upon seeing this action. Honestly, any doctor specializing in Internal Medicine should be able to perform these tasks, but in his mind, Suhyuk could do no wrong.

“Indeed, our Suhyuk.” He muttered while looking towards the knight.

Just by observing him, the knight swiftly moved, turning the X-ray vision glasses to perfectly illuminate the patient’s right thigh.

“Oh, don’t turn it on now! Didn’t I say we’re waiting for neurology and the intern?”

“Sir, I haven’t turned on the machine yet.”

“Huh? Really? What’s that reflection back there? Oh, it’s from a previous scan. Ha ha.”

Lee Hyunjong laughed awkwardly as if embarrassed by his outburst. He then waved his hand and continued speaking.

“Alright, now switch places with neurology intern. Keep monitoring the ECG.”

“Yes, Dr. Lee.”

“Insert catheter.”

“Yes, Dr. Lee.”

Considering there was a patient lying nearby suffering from myocardial infarction, their expressions and attitudes seemed too relaxed. However, this didn’t mean they were moving slowly. Both the knights and the director were seasoned veterans.

‘Cardiology is truly impressive.’

[Can you manage despite your leg?]

‘Me? It’s quite challenging. I’m already feeling tired.’

I wore a sterilized gown and gloves, but it wasn’t feasible to use my cane. Just standing upright was becoming difficult.

[I see, it must be hard for you.]

‘Yes. I have to make a diagnosis.’

[Don’t say that. Diagnosis is both the flower and essence of medicine.]

‘Well…that’s right.’

[Honestly, surgery or procedures are just technical skills.]

‘That’s true.’

If any surgeon heard these words, they would jump up with their scalpel. The two of them gently pulled on the patient’s right thigh with both hands.

“Well done. Now watch this.” With brief praise, Lee Hyunjong pointed at the screen with his chin. An image of the thigh area appeared on the screen thanks to the powered-up imaging device. Something very sharp was piercing through the skin.

Pop.

Thanks to Suhyuk pulling left and right, the catheter easily pierced the flesh.

“Now…”

Lee Hyunjong had a unique habit of sticking out his tongue slightly when concentrating deeply. Slowly but steadily without stopping, he advanced the catheter towards the femoral artery.

“Look closely, and you can see it pulsating. Do you see it?”

“Yes.”

“That’s the artery, and next to it is the vein. There shouldn’t be any confusion between them, but accidents still happen occasionally.”

Even experienced cardiologists often mistakenly puncture the wrong blood vessel. Such errors could sometimes lead to patient fatalities. However, Lee Hyunjong had never lost a patient due to his own mistake throughout his career, and this time was no exception.

“Good.” After swiftly locating the femoral artery, he turned back to Suhyuk.

Following Baruda’s advice, Suhyuk inserted the guidewire through the hole in the catheter.

“Good job. Is this your first time?”

“Huh? Yes. It is my first time.”

“Well, of course it is. Who would attempt this with a first-year resident? One mistake and you’re screwed. Only geniuses like me can pull this off, hehe.”

Lee Hyunjong then smoothly threaded the guidewire received from Suhyuk. He did so as if not giving it much thought. The amazing thing was that despite his casual approach, the tip of the guidewire ascended without getting tangled even once.

‘Is this possible?’

[Hrmm. There is indeed something fascinating about drinking.]

Neither Suhyuk nor Baruda would have believed it had they not witnessed it with their own eyes.

However, both of them were watching the guide wire’s tip closely through the fluoroscopy device. The radiographer was as experienced as the director and skillfully maneuvered the fluoroscopy to track the guide wire without missing a beat.

“Okay. Here slightly… turn like this.”

The inserted guide wire had already passed through the abdominal aorta, thoracic aorta, and was now navigating the aortic arch. This procedure wasn’t usually performed at such speed. It wasn’t for nothing that medical professionals from around the world flocked to observe Professor Lee Hyunjong’s angiography technique. Currently, the director declined most requests due to his busy schedule, but it hadn’t always been so.

During his prime, doctors from all over the world, including the United States, had come to learn this procedure from him.

“Wow.”

“Do you realize how impressive that is?”

“What? Yes. To navigate through…such a tight turn like that.”

“Yes. You’re better than our fellow here. He’s always so clumsy.”

Lee Hyunjong briefly mocked the fellow before finally reaching the most critical point inside the curved artery resembling a U-turn—the exact location where the coronary arteries originated.

“Zoom in on this area. Pull it up close.”

“Yes, Dr. Lee.”

The knight seemed to have been waiting for those words and promptly enlarged the image of the guidewire tip. The wire, which appeared quite thin earlier, now looked as thick as a ballpoint pen.

“Yes, sir.”

“Amazing, right? This machine costs several hundred million won. The hospital was hesitant to purchase it until I convinced them by getting scanned multiple times myself.”

“Oh…I see…”

It sounded like he wasn’t speaking metaphorically. Knowing Lee Hyunjong, Suhyuk wouldn’t have been surprised if that were literally true.

“Well then… Hmm?” A frown creased Dr. Lee’s usually confident face as something caught his attention.

Despite meticulously navigating their way here, what they saw on the screen wasn’t the usual sight. Instead of branching off into two coronary arteries from the aorta, one artery extended outward.

“Damn it.”

“An anatomical variation…”

Anatomical variations could be decisive factors during surgical procedures, especially rare ones like this.

“It’s a single vessel type. All coronary arteries should branch from the left main artery.”

Isn’t it only 0.1 percent of cases?

“That’s correct. It might become challenging for you, right?”

As Baruda predicted, Lee Hyunjong struggled to insert the guide wire into the blood vessel. They had anticipated that the right coronary artery was blocked based on the EKG results, but there wasn’t even a right coronary artery present.

“Professor, it seems to be a single vessel variation. Let’s start with the left side…”

“Yes. That assumption is likely correct.”

However, Lee Hyunjong was indeed a veteran. Before Suhyuk could say anything, he carefully inserted the guide wire into the only coronary artery. This procedure required extreme caution as there was a risk of completely blocking the single blood vessel during surgery.

“Slowly…slowly…”

Lee Hyunjong, who had successfully performed thousands of surgeries over several decades, navigated through this critical moment and managed to insert the guide wire into the right branch of the left coronary artery.

Yet, instead of admiration, both Lee Hyunjong and Suhyuk let out sighs of concern.

“It’s short…”

“The blood vessel is too short!”