Surgery Godfather
Chapter 1050 - 862: Why Are Chili Peppers Spicy?

Chapter 1050: Chapter 862: Why Are Chili Peppers Spicy?

Returning from Beijing, Yang Ping brought Xiao Su some of Beijing’s specialty snacks as well as some trinkets that girls like, such as hair clips and bracelets; all of them were pretty little knick-knacks that were inexpensive, but Xiao Su liked them very much.

Every time Yang Ping went on a trip, as long as he left the province, he would definitely bring a small gift for Xiao Su. He could forget other things, but he would never forget this.

After his return, Yang Ping would also share with Xiao Su the surgeries he had performed while away. Xiao Su would listen with great interest, her eyes filled with admiration and affection for Yang Ping.

By the time he returned it was already noon, so Yang Ping went to his department after lunch.

The department’s current status was good; Xia Shu had completely integrated into the new team. Soon, Dr. Wen and Dr. Jin from Orthopedics would be transferred to the Surgical Research Institute, which meant the Institute would have two additional doctors, increasing the workforce compared to before.

In the afternoon, Yang Ping made his rounds in the Surgery, performed a few surgeries, and after work, he went to visit Pan Doudou in the General Surgery Department. She had not yet been discharged. Luckily, she had earned some money through live streaming; otherwise, she wouldn’t have had enough to stay in the hospital waiting for an organ transplant.

Lying on the hospital bed, the gaunt Pan Doudou had an infusion tube connected under her left collarbone. To facilitate long-term intravenous nutrition, the nurse had performed a subclavian vein puncture placement.

Now, she was completely dependent on intravenous nutrition to maintain life. Even without eating, the pressure from air buildup in her non-functioning intestinal tract was enough to cause her great pain.

As her illness became more severe, Pan Doudou’s body took on an even more pronounced skeletal appearance, with her forehead, cheekbones, and jawbone all protruding. The contours around the orbits of her eyes were faintly discernible, which no longer looked aesthetically pleasing, but more akin to horror.

Even in such a state, Pan Doudou didn’t forget to live stream. Her condition garnered her fans’ sympathy, and they spontaneously donated money, cheered her on, and hoped that she would pull through. The support of fans really made a difference.

After seeing Pan Doudou, Yang Ping sat for a while in the office of the General Surgery Department, discussing Pan Doudou’s condition with Director Fang.

"A few days ago, there was a patient who died in a car accident, and the family had agreed to donate the organs, but then they changed their minds."

Owing to traditional beliefs, the Chinese generally have a resistant attitude towards organ donation, which is understandable.

Director Fang inevitably felt some regret and also apologized for calling Yang Ping in the middle of the night. He had been overly excited that day and had not clarified the situation before calling.

As a doctor, who cares about getting calls in the middle of the night? Sometimes, having a quiet phone on days off can even feel odd.

Back when Yang Ping was the chief resident, the department provided him with a Nokia brick phone. Its ringtone was still etched in Yang Ping’s mind, and if he heard it now, he would immediately tense up instinctively, as it meant there was an emergency.

"There’s nothing we can do but wait, contact me if needed," Yang Ping said helplessly as waiting for an organ was a matter of fate.

"Her CA199 is very high, nearly a tenfold increase," reported Doctor Chen, who was in charge of her bed.

"Yes, we are looking into the causes," Director Fang said, showing a hint of worry on his face.

"I remember that she had a normal CA199 before, didn’t she?" Yang Ping asked.

Doctor Chen nodded: "Yes, she had a CA199 test before, and it’s always been normal."

CA199 is a tumor marker; at such a high level, over ten times the norm, if you consider a tumor, then previous diagnoses could all be overturned. A problem with the diagnosis before doing an organ transplant is certainly not good.

Tumor markers are just one indicator, and a rise doesn’t necessarily mean a tumor; other factors also need to be considered.

Pan Doudou’s current diagnosis was autoimmune ischemic enteropathy, and Yang Ping had personally examined the pathology slice, so there was definitely no problem there. Could it be that there was a tumor in some other part of her body? Yang Ping began to review in his mind.

"Get the medical record, I’ll take a look," Yang Ping felt it was necessary to review the medical record again.

Doctor Chen immediately brought over the medical record but the most recent test forms hadn’t been added yet; they were still in the cabinet at the nurse’s station, which annoyed Director Fang: "What’s going on? Hurry up and get them."

A Standardized Training Student immediately ran to get the test forms, sweating profusely from his forehead. These tests had been ordered because of the increase in CA199.

"Bring out all her pre-admission tests; don’t make it like pulling teeth," Director Fang reprimanded his graduate student and Standardized Training Student.

Yang Ping flipped through the test form to find that the CA199 was actually at 255 U/ml, the normal range being 0-25 U/ml, meaning it had reached more than ten times the normal maximum. Generally, such an increase is common in pancreatic cancer, liver cancer, and colon cancer, and some benign tumors of the digestive system may also show an increase.

However, this indicator lacks specificity, and there are two important parameters for evaluation in clinical tests: sensitivity and specificity.

Sensitivity is for detecting the presence of disease; specificity is for reducing the chances of mistakes.

High sensitivity means a strong capability to detect disease; for example, to use the analogy of virus detection software, out of ten thousand files mixed with a hundred viruses, it can detect all one hundred. However, unfortunately, it recognizes several hundred files as viruses, not just the one hundred, and the one hundred viruses are included among these several hundred files.

What about specificity? Specificity can only detect fifty viruses, but all fifty are indeed viruses without any other files mixed in.

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