Chapter 60: Announcement (3)

“Anatomical variations should not be emphasized solely in anatomy classes. Anatomical variations often have an absolute impact on patient prognosis. Among these cases, one of the most dramatic examples is coronary artery variation.”

Suhyuk continued his presentation exactly as he had practiced it. It wasn’t just limited to content; his voice tone, gestures, and body movements were all rehearsed. He was following everything meticulously. Unlike most resident doctors or professors who remained rooted in place while presenting, Suhyuk moved around the podium.

‘Look at this guy?’

Naturally, he captured the attention of Professor Kim Kyungrae, who served as the chairman. Movement during presentations was a technique commonly used by experienced speakers.

Moving around during a presentation was known to increase audience engagement based on both experience and research papers. Of course, most lecturers didn’t employ this technique not because they were unaware of it but due to nervousness and fear of forgetting their content.

Has he memorized everything word for word?

However, the first-year resident before them confidently moved freely across the podium, capturing everyone’s attention without missing a single word.

“There are various anatomical variations of coronary arteries. As you can see from the diagram above, the form that significantly impacts patient outcomes is when both left and right coronary arteries emerge from the left branch.”

“Hmmm.”

As a result, Professor Kim Kyungrae was now focused on Suhyuk’s presentation rather than Suhyuk himself. Initially, he felt uncomfortable due to Suhyuk being a first-year resident. However, he had forgotten that Suhyuk was indeed a first-year resident. The perfectly prepared presentation possessed considerable power, especially for someone specializing in cardiology, which deals with the heart.

“Originally, open-heart surgery is preferred over interventional cardiovascular procedures for this type of variation. However, due to the nature of myocardial infarction patients, preoperative examinations are often challenging. Once such variations are confirmed, it becomes difficult to determine the optimal timing for open-heart surgery.”

Initially, I thought only his voice and attitude were good, but the content was truly excellent. Based on his speech alone, he didn’t seem like someone with just one year of experience; it was as if he had spent a lifetime immersed in interventional cardiology. In fact, even Lee Hyunjong himself might not have sounded so natural discussing these topics.

“As a result, many doctors tend to proceed directly with intervention. I’m sure several professors here today have encountered such anatomical variations at least once.”

Suhyuk took a breath after speaking up to that point. It wasn’t due to running out of breath; rather, it served as a strategic pause to refocus attention. And it proved quite effective.

“Phew…”

Soon, sighs emerged from various corners of the room.

It wasn’t due to dissatisfaction with his presentation or fatigue. He simply took a deep breath as he hadn’t been able to breathe properly while intensely focused on his presentation until now.

Suhyuk waited for about ten seconds before opening his mouth again. Now it was time for the main topic.

“However, in this case, there is only one chance. If you enter incorrectly, it cannot be reversed. In interventional cardiology, irreversibility means the patient’s life could end. Therefore, every cardiologist must have a thorough understanding of anatomical variations in coronary arteries.”

Of course, it would be beneficial if doctors from other specialties also had such knowledge. However, modern medicine has advanced significantly over time.

Medicine is so specialized that it is impossible for one doctor to acquire all medical knowledge. It would be different if someone had Baruda like Suhyuk. However, there was only one person with this ability - Suhyuk himself. Thus, it remains practically unachievable.

“I believe most of you here are well-versed in anatomical variations. However, I’m confident that at least one specific variation will be new to you.”

Some listeners, who had been attentively following Suhyuk’s presentation, now raised their eyebrows in curiosity. The classification of coronary artery anatomical variations was declared complete over a decade ago. Although ongoing research continued in anatomy classes, it was widely accepted that further study on these variations was unnecessary.

Nevertheless, it was widely accepted that there was nothing more to research regarding anatomical variations of coronary arteries.

“Here, this case report was published by the University of California Irvine in 1994.”

However, their doubts didn’t last long. Yes, their doubts continued but expressing them was blocked. It was presentation time, and Lee Suhyuk was the protagonist of this moment. Moreover, what Lee Suhyuk just displayed on the screen was quite intriguing.

“The patient was admitted to the emergency room with chest pain, and thoracic surgery immediately proceeded with open-heart surgery. By the time they arrived at the hospital, it had been 40 minutes since the onset of chest pain, and the patient lost consciousness upon arrival. Additionally, during the surgery, we observed an unprecedented variation in the coronary arteries. The following diagram shows the heart and coronary arteries obtained from the autopsy after the patient’s death.”

As Lee Suhyuk flipped another slide, an image appeared on the screen. It wasn’t just any rough drawing; it was a meticulously crafted illustration by a medical illustrator with a background in medicine. With multiple angles depicted, one could instantly grasp the shape of the heart and the paths of blood vessels.

“As you can see, the coronary artery emerges from the main artery through just one branch. Up to this point, although rare, it doesn’t significantly differ from other observed anatomical variations. However, let’s follow it further back.”

Suhyuk turned his head towards the audience as if directly addressing them, but due to the lighting, nothing was clearly visible. Nonetheless, at least the audience felt like Suhyuk was making eye contact with each of them.

“Huh…”

Naturally, no one could immediately provide an answer; they merely expressed their awe at seeing such a unique form of the coronary artery for the first time. With their murmurs serving as background noise, Suhyuk continued his presentation.

“Three coronary arteries emerge from one stem. There are several peculiarities. Firstly, the branch heading to the right is very short, and the other two branches form the main arteries. Another peculiarity is that the two branches going left twist around each other as they progress. For someone needing cardiovascular intervention, this shape presents considerable challenges.”

As soon as Suhyuk finished speaking, someone subtly raised their hand. It seemed they had a question, but Suhyuk purposely ignored them even though he made eye contact. He already guessed what the query might be. Instead of acknowledging the individual, Suhyuk continued by advancing to the next slide on the screen.

“Of course, this unique form is not only seen in the ‘94 case report’. If we consider simple mutations, there are dozens of cases reported.”

At these words, the professor who raised his hand earlier slowly lowered it again. Suhyuk showed a face indicating that he expected this as he flipped to another slide. This time, instead of a drawing, it was a photograph. It wasn’t directly capturing the heart but rather an X-ray image.

“However, the same type of mutation has been confirmed in the Taehwa Medical Center case. The above picture isn’t from 1994; it was taken recently by Professor Lee Hyunjong at Taehwa Medical Center.”

“Ah…”

Once again, sighs escaped from several professors. No matter how they looked, the shape of the heart matched the previous diagram perfectly. Especially, the path of the blood vessels seemed identical, almost like a carbon copy. It was so similar that one might believe it belonged to the same person’s heart.

No matter how he looked at it, the shape of this heart was identical to the drawing they had seen earlier. In particular, the path of the blood vessels seemed almost exactly the same. It was so similar that one could believe it belonged to the same person’s heart.

However, it didn’t make sense. The X-ray vision device hadn’t been available for more than a few years. Moreover, there were no other devices with such high resolution as his ability yet. Therefore, the heart in the image must belong to another individual.

“In other words, this variation isn’t just a simple mutation but an extremely rare form of anatomical variation. This type of anomaly hasn’t been confirmed anywhere else until now, and likely, today’s announcement marks its official debut.”

This meant that this content would soon be included in textbooks. The name of Lee Suhyuk, the young man standing before them, would also be etched within these books. Professor Lee Hyunjong, who had already achieved numerous accomplishments, was poised to further enhance his reputation once again.

“I will conclude my presentation here. Thank you.”

As Kim Kyungrae’s thoughts reached this point, a barrage of questions erupted immediately after Suhyuk finished speaking. However, Professor Kim Kyungrae, serving as the session chairman, couldn’t promptly address the multitude of inquiries due to being engrossed in his own musings.

‘How many times have I heard such a clear lecture throughout my entire life?’

No matter how he pondered, it seemed unlikely to exceed five instances. Yet, this impressive presentation came from someone just in their first year.

‘Ah…’

Lost in his thoughts, the chairman sighed inexplicably, causing Professor Woo Changyun to shake him gently.

“Chairman, you need to take questions. We will run out of time.”

“Huh? Oh, right. Yes, sorry.”

Finally snapping back to reality, the chairman moved forward and pointed at someone raising their hand. The designated professor promptly rushed towards the standing microphone located within the lecture hall and opened his mouth:

“I enjoyed your presentation very much.”

As usual, it started well. However, both Suhyuk and Baruda could sense that sharp questions would soon follow, evident from the tense expressions on their faces.

“This is Professor Choi Woo-shik from Kyungbu University Hospital. It appears he has a strained relationship with Lee Hyunjong.”

Moreover, Baruda had conducted prior research and possessed relevant information. Suhyuk also felt slightly nervous as he heard Choi Woo-shik’s name mentioned earlier during his conversation with Lee Hyunjong.

“However, this presentation is too good, raising reasonable suspicions. Was this research truly led by Professor Lee Suhyuk or Professor Lee Hyunjong? If it was the latter, I would like to ask why you chose Professor Lee Suhyuk as the presenter?”

It could be considered fortunate.

In any case, the question did not directly address the content of the presentation. This reaction was somewhat expected, given how flawless the presentation had been. When looking for faults, one inevitably had to focus elsewhere, such as on Lee Suhyuk himself, as demonstrated by Baru’s inquiry.

“Ah, this is it.”

At these words, Lee Hyunjong sprang to his feet as if he had been waiting for this moment. Smiling broadly, almost as if he knew this question was coming, he held up a wireless microphone that he had secretly prepared beforehand.

He’s crazy…

While Suhyuk discreetly shook his head, Lee Hyunjong burst out laughing and began speaking.

“I originally didn’t plan to discuss this much further.”

“What do you mean?”

“When we were using patient mediation techniques based on the ‘94 report, Dr. Lee Suhyuk over there advised me. Thanks to him, the patient survived. Although I proposed the idea of writing a research paper, my friend here wrote the entire thing. It took him about 30 minutes, right?”

“30 minutes?”

“Indeed. This is all thanks to the excellent education system of Taehwa Medical School and the superior training environment at Taehwa Hospital. Therefore, for any resident doctors present here who want to specialize further, please apply to Taehwa Hospital first. If you come here, you can become like Dr. Lee Suhyuk.”

Lee Hyunjong’s statement made Professor Choi Woo-shik’s face turn red. He felt an unknown sense of unease but still couldn’t remain silent.

“W-What is this guy doing promoting his hospital here!”

“I am doing it because I can. Does your hospital have someone like Lee Suhyuk? No, right? So shut up and sit down.”

However, after hearing the next part, Choi Woo-shik had no choice but to sit quietly. His hospital indeed lacked a monster like Lee Suhyuk.