godfather of surgery

Chapter 1160 Why isn't it just one person?

Actually, it's nothing serious. Dr. Yuan was just being overly cautious because the thrombus was morphologically completely different from any he had seen before, so he was unsure of what to expect.

If this blood clot hadn't been a bit unusual, Dr. Yuan would have drawn a conclusion long ago. It was precisely because of this blood clot that Dr. Yuan delayed drawing a conclusion.

He called his mentor for advice, who said he had seen similar cases before and suggested consulting a clinical expert. The clinical expert had a deeper understanding of the pathophysiology, pathology, and anatomy of pulmonary embolism than the forensic expert, and their accumulated medical knowledge far exceeded that of the forensic expert.

From the entire autopsy, there were no other causes of death. It was pulmonary embolism caused by blood clots. As a businessman in his fifties, he lacked exercise, often stayed up late for work, and had diabetes. It was very likely that he developed venous thrombosis in a certain part of his body. Aren't there cases of deep vein thrombosis caused by long-term air travel?
Dr. Yuan felt he was overthinking things; it was just that the morphology of the blood clot was unusual, not anything else suspicious. It was time to release the report anyway. Because the deceased was a well-known entrepreneur in the city, and the family had reported the incident to the police, the municipal bureau naturally took it seriously, and the provincial department also intervened, hence the cautious approach.

The deceased's children insisted that his lover had murdered him. The relationships between the characters were very complicated. As a forensic expert, Dr. Yuan could only conduct a technical and objective analysis of the cause of death from a forensic perspective.

"I saw in the autopsy report that there were needle marks on the abdominal wall veins?" Yang Ping said while flipping through the autopsy report.

Dr. Yuan leaned closer to look at the spot Yang Ping was pointing to: "That's right, there's more than one puncture mark here, some old and some fresh. Because the deceased frequently needed subcutaneous insulin injections into his abdominal wall, but he didn't have the professional skills of a medical professional, sometimes when performing subcutaneous punctures, he might accidentally puncture small subcutaneous veins. This is quite common. During the autopsy, we found a large number of dense needle marks in this area, and the size of the needle marks matched the size of an insulin pen needle. We believe it's related to insulin injections."

Hmm! Yang Ping continued to look down at the details on the autopsy report, becoming very interested in the blood clot. It wasn't that he was interested in the case itself, but rather in the formation of the blood clot. There were some filamentous strands wrapped and piled up in the middle, and the surrounding area was just like a normal blood clot. Under what circumstances would such a blood clot form?

Moreover, the deceased had many such blood clots in his lungs. In patients with pulmonary embolism, once a blood clot breaks off and enters the arterial system of the lungs, it can trigger a chain reaction due to pulmonary embolism, forming a large number of blood clots. This is entirely possible.

Yang Ping had dissected so many experimental subjects in the system space before, and the thrombi were all similar. He had never seen such a strange thrombus before. The color of this thrombus was also different. The clump in the middle and the thrombus surrounding it formed a slight color difference. He didn't know if it was an illusion caused by the photo or if there was a real color difference, because Yang Ping had not seen the actual object, but only the photo in the report.

Having dissected countless corpses in the system space and seen many cases of pulmonary embolism, Yang Ping was even more interested in this type of case he had never encountered before.

Yang Ping found the intricate relationships between the characters in the case irritating. He disliked dealing with sociological issues and preferred issues in the natural sciences, such as this bizarre blood clot.

“There seems to be a slight problem with the red blood cells in this image. Could you bring us the pathology slides to take a look? It’s difficult for us to make any meaningful suggestions based solely on the images and reports,” Yang Ping suggested.

Wen Ruzheng had the same thought. He had never seen such a strange thrombus before and was eager to see what it looked like in person. As for his expertise in examining pathological slides, he believed himself to be top-notch, while others were not up to par and were unreliable, except for Professor Yang. Therefore, he needed to see it with his own eyes to feel at ease.

Dr. Yuan originally intended to consult on some clinical issues related to pulmonary embolism caused by thrombosis, and did not intend to ask a clinical expert to help review the pathology slides. Therefore, he did not bring those slides with him, and the procedures for bringing them out were also quite troublesome.

It would be impolite to ask them to go to the provincial forensic laboratory to see the pathology slides. It's unreasonable to ask someone to make a trip for you. Besides, this suggestion came from Professor Yang, so it's impossible to say, "Professor Yang, please come to the provincial department with me."

Professor Yang is a top medical expert.

Dr. Yuan thought about it for a moment, and since he was also curious to find out what was going on, he said, "How about I have a colleague send over the pathology slides?"

"Alright, bring it over quickly so I can see for myself what kind of bizarre blood clot this is. It looks strange in the photo," Wen Ruzheng said, eager to see the pathology slides.

Dr. Yuan immediately called his colleagues and asked them to arrange for a special person and car to send the pathology slides to Sanbo Hospital so that Professor Yang from Sanbo Hospital could take a look. He emphasized that Professor Yang's purpose was to make things go more smoothly, and at the same time, he was proud to be able to get Professor Yang to help him, so that his colleagues would be envious and he would subtly elevate his own status.

"It will take about an hour to get the pathology slides here. I'm so sorry to take up your time. Please go ahead with your work. I'll just walk around the hospital while I wait for the pathology slides."

Dr. Yuan said that it's impossible for everyone to just sit here and wait. He's willing, but would Professor Yang be willing?

Dean Xia glanced at his watch and said, "Old Zhao, could you please keep Dr. Yuan company? I need to go back to my office; I have a lot of things to do there."

Then he got up and left. Yang Ping went to continue leading students to analyze cases. Wen Ru was returning to the pathology department. Director Zhao took Dr. Yuan to the hospital cafeteria for lunch, and then arranged for an officer to show Dr. Yuan around the hospital.

As a forensic expert in the province, Dr. Yuan is usually very busy and rarely has time to come out, so he took this opportunity to visit the famous Sanbo Institute—now the Southern Academy of Medical Sciences.

He originally studied clinical medicine as an undergraduate, but after reading about the deeds of Dr. Henry Lee, a Chinese-American, he developed a passion for criminal investigation techniques. Forensic medicine is the criminal investigation technique closest to clinical medicine, so he gave up clinical medicine and pursued forensic medicine for his master's and doctoral degrees. His mentor was a well-known authority in the field of forensic medicine in China. After graduation, he went directly to the Nanjing Provincial Department of Forensic Medicine. After working his way up for several years, he is now a heavyweight figure in forensic medicine in Nanjing Province and a well-known figure throughout the country.

An hour later, a special person and vehicle delivered the pathology slides, which were packed in a box. Dr. Yuan, accompanied by his assistant, carried the box to the research institute to find Yang Ping. He first called Director Zhao, who happened to be free and personally took him to find Yang Ping again.

Yang Ping hadn't finished get off work yet. He said, "Let's go to the pathology department. You guys go directly to the pathology department, and I'll be there shortly."

Director Zhao hurriedly led Dr. Yuan to the pathology department. Before Dr. Yuan arrived, the provincial director personally called Dean Xia to contact him. Moreover, this case was one that the province attached great importance to because it involved many things, so they dared not make any mistakes.

If the death was a homicide, the situation becomes much more complicated; if the death was due to natural causes of illness, the matter becomes much simpler.

Wen Ruzheng was still looking at slides in the pathology department. He had just eaten a bowl of instant noodles and two braised eggs and was now continuing to work. However, for him, this was not work, but a game, a pleasure in life.

His passion for slicing is like a high school student's passion for video games; he can do it all night long without getting tired or losing interest.

Seeing Dr. Yuan approach with the pathology slides, Wen Ruzheng's eyes gleamed like a hungry wolf eyeing fresh meat. His moment to shine had arrived again; this was always Wen Ruzheng's moment to shine. He could spot flaws in pathology slides that others couldn't—that's what a man should be like.

This is Wen Ruzheng's value system.

Dr. Yuan placed the box on the table next to him, and Director Zhao pointed to a microscope: "Dr. Wen, could you please take a look and see what's wrong?"

It's so kind of Professor Yang to trouble him with such a small matter; it would be very impolite. It's already quite kind of him to agree to come. Wen Ru was carefully taking the pathology slides from Dr. Yuan, mounting them, adjusting the microscope, and preparing to begin work when he realized Professor Yang hadn't arrived yet.

Professor Yang hadn't arrived yet, and he wanted to wait for Professor Yang to come before starting work. This was a sign of respect, and he also wanted to make a good impression on Professor Yang.

More importantly, only Professor Yang understands the value of some highly complex pathological slides. If any discoveries are made, discussing them with these people would be like casting pearls before swine—it's pointless, they wouldn't understand anything.

About ten minutes later, Yang Ping arrived with several students. It wasn't that Yang Ping was putting on airs; now, wherever Yang Ping went in the hospital, in addition to the plainclothes guards who secretly followed him, there were also many young graduate students. They followed Yang Ping to broaden their horizons, learn something, and incidentally become his assistants. This was a spontaneous act by the graduate students.

After Yang Ping sat down, Wen Ru was adjusting his breathing. He began to look at the pathology slides through the eyepiece, concentrating as if he were doing something extremely cautious.

We should treat pathological slides with reverence, because a misdiagnosis could ruin someone's entire life. This is Wen Ruzheng's philosophy.

"Dr. Wen is the academic leader of the pathology department at our Sanbo Hospital. He is young and promising, and his expertise in pathology is extremely high. Whether in China or internationally, he is a top pathology talent. He is the gold standard for reading pathology slides at our Sanbo Hospital." Director Zhao introduced Wen Ruzheng to Dr. Yuan from the side.

Of course, Director Zhao kept quiet about those shameful things like streaking.

"People who do academic work tend to be a bit straightforward and speak their minds directly," Director Zhao explained regarding Wen Ruzheng's previous statement.

At the time, Wen Ruzheng told Dr. Yuan in front of him that the quality of the pathology slides was too low and would not meet the standards for Sanbo Hospital. He added that even other major hospitals, let alone forensic laboratories, rarely produced pathology slides with the same meticulous care as Sanbo Hospital. The entire process was extremely rigorous, meticulous, and demanding, and Wen Ruzheng would point out and criticize any shortcomings. Initially, the pathologists felt uncomfortable and under a lot of pressure, and they also had many complaints about Wen Ruzheng, feeling that he was overly serious, nitpicking, and that it was unnecessary to be so meticulous; some things could be acceptable as long as they were passable.

However, over time, everyone gradually developed a serious habit. If any step was not done properly, everyone would feel uncomfortable. They had to do things perfectly. The whole department was infected with "perfectionism" by Wen Ruzheng.

The quality of this pathology slide was indeed very poor. Wen Ruzheng muttered to himself as he looked at it. If it were a colleague from his own department, he would have started criticizing him directly, but this was an outsider, and he couldn't keep pointing fingers.

Ten minutes later, before Wen Ruzheng's eyes had even left the microscope's eyepiece, Yang Ping already knew that there was something wrong with this pathology slide. A slide that Wen Ruzheng had been looking at for so long must not be an ordinary slide; it must be a difficult or complicated case.

Director Zhao chatted with Dr. Yuan, introducing the development of Sanbo Hospital over the years, and also inquired about the current situation of several acquaintances in the provincial department. Sometimes they talked about several major cases in the province recently to avoid awkward silences while waiting.

Dr. Yuan was still reserved in front of Yang Ping, afraid of saying something wrong in front of such a medical expert, so he carefully considered every word, especially when it came to technical issues.

Director Zhao noticed Dr. Yuan's restraint and nervousness, and intentionally made the atmosphere very relaxed.

Fifteen minutes had passed, and Wen Ruzheng remained motionless like a statue. Could something be wrong with him? Director Zhao's heart skipped a beat. He got up and tiptoed to Wen Ruzheng's side. Why was he not moving at all?

At this moment, Wen Ruzheng's phone was vibrating in his pants pocket, but he remained motionless and did not react to the vibration.

"Dr. Wen?" Director Zhao called out softly.

Wen Ruzheng did not agree, and he seemed to be fixed in place, not moving at all.

"Dr. Wen!" Director Zhao's voice was a little louder than before, and then he looked at Yang Ping.

Could it be that Wen Ru has died here? Doctors can't keep thinking about these disease-related things.

"Don't bother me, wait a little longer!" Wen Ruzheng suddenly blurted out.

Director Zhao's racing heartbeat immediately calmed down. It was truly terrifying. He had even died on the spot for this kid. This sudden stillness was quite frightening. This Wen Ruzheng always caused strange things. He was just looking at a pathology slide, so why was he so still, like a statue? What would happen if he moved a couple of times?

Twenty minutes later, Director Zhao looked at the digital clock on the wall. Twenty minutes had passed and there was still no movement. What pathological slides were they looking at today? Were they going to find something interesting to examine?
He sometimes read slowly, and Professor Yang didn't have time to worry about him being so slow, but Director Zhao could only complain in his heart and didn't dare to urge him, so he could only wait patiently.

"Our Dr. Wen is very meticulous, so let's wait and see. Maybe he'll make some new discoveries," Director Zhao explained to Dr. Yuan, so that he wouldn't think that Sanbo Hospital wasn't up to par, that even the best pathologist in the department would take so long to look at such a simple pathology slide.

Suddenly, Wen Ruzheng looked up: "The red blood cells in the blood clot belong to two people, not just one..."

This conclusion startled Dr. Yuan.