Surgery Godfather
Chapter 1090 - 887: The Truth Revealed

Chapter 1090: Chapter 887: The Truth Revealed

Doctor Wen from the Pathology Department was highly efficient, and Nong Tiesheng’s postoperative pathology report was issued quickly. The surgery area on both sides of the neck had a total of twelve tissue sections examined for pathology, and none of the twelve specimens revealed any tumor tissue.

This pathological examination was only intended to guide postoperative treatment and could not affect the diagnosis at the time.

From this, it seemed that no treatment aimed at the tumor was required post-surgery. Throughout Nong Tiesheng’s treatment process, including imaging studies such as PET-CT, there were no signs of tumor metastasis, suggesting that Nong Tiesheng’s tumor had been cured.

Yang Ping recalled Nong Tiesheng’s medical records, which included only one surface ultrasound of the thyroid suggesting a possible thyroid carcinoma. However, surprisingly, no further ultrasound was performed at Affiliated Hospital No. 4; instead, tests like CT, enhanced CT, PET-CT were conducted, and the crucial surface ultrasound and essential pathology report were missing, which was truly odd.

The surface ultrasound considering thyroid carcinoma wasn’t conducted at Affiliated Hospital No. 4, but at the county hospital by Nong Tiesheng. Seeing that the result indicated cancer, he immediately went to the Provincial City for treatment.

Yang Ping asked Li Guodong to retrieve all imaging studies of Nong Tiesheng from the General Surgery Department. Yang Ping then meticulously reviewed the images again in his office, one by one.

Since some images were greatly blurred and deteriorated, Yang Ping instructed Nong Zhiwen to duplicate all imaging studies onto a CD at Affiliated Hospital No. 4. Although it was a bit troublesome, treating medical issues was inherently cumbersome—being a little troubled was nothing extraordinary in ensuring a job well done.

Nong Zhiwen was very proactive in complying; he immediately followed Yang Ping’s instructions, copied all the imaging data onto a CD, and brought it over. Normally, a USB drive would be more convenient, but many hospital USB ports are sealed off to prevent computer viruses, as a virus infection in the hospital systems could lead to serious issues.

Yang Ping knew that many patients’ imaging data were on CDs, so his computer was not only connected to a specialized imaging display but also equipped with a CD drive.

After repeatedly examining each image, Yang Ping took a deep breath. From the very first preoperative images to those taken after two surgeries and the most recent ones, Yang Ping judged based on the imaging that the thyroid tumor should be benign. Relying on his extensive experience in image reading, he was very confident.

However, pathological diagnosis remains the gold standard for tumors. Without the original pathology report, the exact nature of the tumor would remain a mystery.

Even though Yang Ping was absolutely certain, he could not assert that the tumor was definitively benign. He once again repeatedly reviewed the medical records, from the records of two admissions, discharge summaries, and surgical notes. The diagnosis had always been thyroid cancer, but critically, there was no mention of what subtype or stage—only thyroid cancer from start to finish, which was highly contradictory.

In principle, as a triple-A teaching hospital, such medical records were not acceptable, especially not from a large triple-A teaching hospital like Affiliated Hospital No. 4. Could it be that the records at Affiliated Hospital No. 4 are now so sloppy? Is the management so lax?

If it was a benign tumor, and they performed a radical surgery for thyroid cancer on it, followed by various rounds of radiotherapy and targeted therapy?

Yang Ping dared not think so, but he couldn’t help but consider such possibilities.

It should be impossible; there must be some misunderstanding, Yang Ping told himself.

From his graduation from university to date, through his years of work, although he had encountered a few unscrupulous doctors, such rare instances only involved them taking advantage of loopholes for profit at most. The vast majority of doctors are ethical, principled, and professional, never engaging in actions contrary to fundamental principles.

At least, in his experience, no doctor would exaggeratedly treat a benign tumor as malignant, then prescribe a host of treatments.

At most, for aggressive treatment, they would completely resect a benign tumor, which is entirely in line with medical principles.

For instance, the treatment of lung nodules is highly debated. Some doctors believe in surgical resection to eliminate future problems, while others think such active measures are unnecessary. With ample evidence supporting benignity, they support observation and regular follow-ups since most lung nodules are benign.

There are even specialized outpatient clinics for lung nodules in some hospitals, and some doctors focus their research on lung nodules.

This is an academic controversy and remains unresolved—differing opinions and treatment approaches are entirely normal.

However, regarding the treatment of malignant tumors, having undergone two surgeries, regardless of the judgments at the time, conducting a pathological examination post-surgery should be a mandatory rule and a global consensus, without dispute.

If it truly wasn’t thyroid cancer, misdiagnosing a benign tumor as thyroid cancer would have a tremendous impact on the patient.

Yang Ping’s extensive experience in reading images could not replace a pathology report, so out of caution, he hoped to find the pathology report. Since Affiliated Hospital No. 4 couldn’t locate it, he pondered whether the county hospital where Nong Tiesheng initially visited had conducted a biopsy.

Following this thought, Yang Ping shared his ideas with Director Fang, asking her to find ways to inquire from the patient. If possible, contacting the doctors at the county hospital would be ideal to help check the records and determine if a biopsy had been performed. If so, they should obtain the pathology report and pathology slices.

Additionally, Yang Ping reminded Director Fang to contact acquaintances at Affiliated Hospital No. 4 to ascertain whether the pathology examination was indeed not performed or if the report was simply lost; these were entirely different issues.

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