Chapter 2375: Shocking Words
In the eyes of Cao Zhao and the others, his ability to skillfully interpret pediatric ECGs is nothing extraordinary. He’s been interning in clinical practice for nearly a year, and if he can’t even handle these basics, he might as well leave.
"Discuss the ECG findings of the child patient," said Cao Zhao, noticing he had been observing it for a while, advising him not to waste valuable time.
Pan Shihua collected himself; he’d been repeatedly reviewing earlier to find the evidence Xie had mentioned, and said, "In leads II, III, and avF, there are signs of ST-segment elevation, indicating a suspicion of acute inferior myocardial infarction. It aligns with Dr. Xie’s previous suggestion that there might be an issue with the papillary muscles of the left ventricle."
"What did she say?" Cao Zhao suddenly turned his head, having caught the crucial point in his words.
He wasn’t present earlier and didn’t know what startling thing Student Xie had said.
Pan Shihua’s lips hesitated with a shiver, debating whether to reveal Student Xie’s words, noticing the sharp, needle-like gaze from Cao Zhao seemed to pierce the spine.
Perhaps in others’ minds, Second Brother Cao’s smile seemed more devilish. However, to Student Xie, possibly due to a bias favoring Senior Cao, she felt everyone in Senior Cao’s family were like immortals.
Facing Immortal Brother, Xie Wanying was not as afraid as Student Pan and the others. She bravely raised her hand: "I was the one who said it."
Glancing at the contrasting reactions of these two students, the small whirlpool in Cao Zhaomo’s eyes twirled, resembling a clear spring in the realm of immortals or a man-eating pool from hell.
"What did you say?" Cao Zhao asked softly, his voice magnetic and enticing, in the manner of a protagonist from a romance drama.
The others felt their hearts pounding, unsure if traps awaited ahead. Following usual drama tropes, the protagonist typically precedes these words with hidden traps. However, like falling into the script, Student Xie voluntarily confessed, "I suggested there may be a problem with the papillary muscles. Now with the ECG, there’s a very possible partial rupture of the papillary muscles."
"You mean, conducting this ECG primarily suspected myocardial infarction in the patient?" Cao Zhao swiftly summarized and organized the previously occurred situation he missed, casting a sidelong glance at the primary diagnosing physician, Dr. Luo Jingming.
Luo Jingming understood exactly what was being questioned by that glance.
As previously mentioned, as a general pediatric surgeon, he truly wouldn’t initially suspect "papillary muscle infarction" upon receiving a patient with electrical injury.
One cannot affirm that Student Xie’s alternative approach to observing the problem was absolutely correct, or that the clinical inertia of their collective medical reasoning was flawed.
The initial directive is to understand that electrical injuries impacting the heart have always been a concern for doctors. Whenever patients with electrical injuries arrive at the hospital, regardless of whether myocardial infarction is suspected, doctors undoubtedly perform an ECG and test cardiac enzymes.
Everything must adhere to scientific discourse.
The number of cases concerning myocardial infarction in patients with electrical injuries mentioned by Student Xie is too small.
Statistical data show that out of one hundred hospitalized patients with electrical injuries, only one can be diagnosed with myocardial infarction. What is more perplexing for doctors might be that the likelihood of a genuine ECG abnormality is not 100%.
Only two-thirds of patients, like the current child patient, show ST-segment elevation, while one-third present ECGs without abnormalities. The occurrence of conclusive necrotic Q-waves needed to diagnose myocardial infarction is astoundingly low.
This situation only indicates that most electrical injury patients sent to the hospital are not serious cases; those with fatal injuries would not be able to be transported to the hospital for resuscitation.