Chapter 189: Accompanying Small Blood Vessel

Ji Xiang began the super-selection again.

Ling Tian watched as the micro-guidewire traveled up the artery, going higher and higher, further and further.

"Which artery are you trying to super-select?" Ling Tian asked, unable to suppress his confusion.

Although his first instinct was that Ji Xiang had gone off track, Ling Tian still had a bad feeling.

"Subclavian."

"!!!" Ling Tian felt that Ji Xiang had gone mad—the Subclavian Artery! He actually wanted to super-select the Subclavian Artery!

The Subclavian Artery is a major arterial trunk at the root of the neck, supplying a vast area; from the intracranial space above to the thoracic vertebrae below, the Subclavian Artery has branches everywhere.

But the Subclavian Artery is separated from the liver by the entire thoracic cavity; for it to send out a vessel that travels thousands of miles through the thoracic cavity and the diaphragm to reach the liver, and then crawl into the liver to supply the tumor,

How could that be possible!

No, it was still possible.

The Subclavian Artery has a branch called the Internal Mammary Artery, which runs through the thoracic wall and approaches the diaphragm. If a liver tumor is close to the diaphragm, it could be supplied by a branch of the Internal Mammary Artery.

Ling Tian knew this, but this tumor was not near the edge of the liver; it was very far from the diaphragm.

Therefore, he had subconsciously ruled out the possibility of the Internal Mammary Artery.

Ji Xiang must have run out of ideas, felt that the third super-selection was bound to fail, and was preparing to perform a maneuver that no one else could complete to save some face.

The maneuver of turning from the Thoracic Aorta into the Subclavian Artery is extremely difficult and requires highly superb technique.

Ridiculous.

Utterly ridiculous!

Ling Tian was so angry he let out a cold laugh, "Subclavian? You..."

He forcibly suppressed the countless taunts in his heart; after all, they were on the operating table, and the Patient was under Local Anesthesia.

Ling Tian still possessed the most basic professional ethics.

Plus, Ji Xiang was just a Standardized Training Student, a surgeon who only became the lead by a stroke of luck; in the end, any trouble would be his own.

So he held it in.

Once the super-selection failed, he would see what he had to say!

Ling Tian thought viciously to himself.

The guide wire wound its way; Ji Xiang gently twisted the guide wire with his right hand, moving not quickly, but with extreme determination.

Along the way, all the technical difficulties were overcome by some unknown technique, as if it were a smooth path.

Especially at the turn from the Thoracic Aorta to the Subclavian Artery; even if Ling Tian were doing this extremely difficult turn himself, he would need at least a few attempts while fully focused.

Yet with a twist of Ji Xiang's wrist, the guide wire obediently and gently walked into the Right Subclavian Artery, showing not the slightest difficulty.

Ling Tian was even a bit jealous watching Ji Xiang's surgery.

Such good technique, such a young age—if only he weren't so troublesome, how good that would be.

Cultivating talent in the Interventional Department is extremely difficult; the difficulty of performing Level 4 Vascular Superselection is beyond what most people can imagine.

Over so many years, the boss hadn't even been able to build a team.

There were other reasons for this, such as the reputation among Doctors.

But the main reason was that while Surgical Operations can be mastered through repetition, Interventional Surgery requires absolute talent to reach the highest level.

Without enough talent, even if one practiced until they were worn out, they would never reach a top-tier standard.

But Ji Xiang... what a pity. The more Ling Tian felt regret, the more he hated him.

The arrogant and domineering Ji Xiang not only delayed his own future but also delayed the boss's vision and blueprint, and even more so, delayed his own design for the future of the hospital's interventional discipline.

Damn it!

"Inject the medicine," Ji Xiang said softly after the super-selection was complete and the Catheter had been sent into the Right Subclavian Artery.

This must be the last time Ji Xiang would stand on an operating table in Shanghai, Ling Tian thought. He didn't question him, but touched the screen covered with a sterile film and operated the high-pressure Syringe to inject the medicine.

"Whoosh~"

The black image of the Contrast Agent appeared in the Subclavian Artery.

This time, Ling Tian wasn't particularly nervous; he believed it was absolutely impossible for the Subclavian Artery to supply the Tumor.

Even tumor factors are damn well-behaved; with so many blood vessels available, why would they travel thousands of miles to summon a branch from the Subclavian Artery?

He had just begun to imagine how he would clean up the mess if he were Ji Xiang, when suddenly a black line appeared in his field of vision.

It came from above, as if the waters of the Yellow River were descending from the heavens, surging downward, passing through the pleura, the thoracic cavity, and the diaphragm, and entering the liver.

This is impossible!

Absolutely impossible!!

Ling Tian's pupils constricted, the light reflex disappeared, and they were neither equal nor round.

Was it really a branch of the Right Subclavian Artery providing the supply?

Although the fact was right before his eyes, Ling Tian still couldn't believe it. It's the Internal Mammary Artery, he thought to himself.

But then Ling Tian stared in astonishment.

The branch of the Internal Mammary Artery was visible, but there was another thin shadow accompanying it, passing into the diaphragm.

He struggled to keep his eyes open, despite them being unequal and non-round, and looked carefully with his pupils contracted to pinpoints.

That blood vessel almost overlapped with the Internal Mammary Artery, creating a double image; if not for careful observation, it would be impossible to see clearly. But even with careful observation, it was still... very hard to distinguish.

Fortunately, the concept of sterility was already engraved in his DNA; Ling Tian didn't do the embarrassing thing of raising his hand to wipe his eyes, but instead lowered his head and rubbed it against Ji Xiang's shoulder.

The stiff orbicularis oculi muscle relaxed with the rub, and Ling Tian's vision returned to normal.

He focused his gaze.

Sure enough, what he had just seen was not an illusion; the Subclavian Artery really did have a branch descending to supply blood to the liver Tumor.

After a delay of a few seconds, as the surgical field moved downward, the half of the Tumor in the liver that had been a dark area was "lit up."

!!!

!!!

!!!

Countless exclamation marks floated above Ling Tian's head.

Such a thing did not exist in his consciousness.

A branch of the Subclavian Artery supplying blood to a liver Tumor—no matter how one looked at it, it was fantastical, definitely not medicine.

But the fact was right before his eyes.

No matter how incredible, it remained a fact.

Ling Tian froze; he stared at the DSA Machine screen in astonishment, and noise appeared in his ears.

That was the sound produced by rising blood pressure and blood rushing through the vessels of the auricle.

The swishing static made Ling Tian incomparably irritable.

Something that neither his boss nor he himself thought possible had been accomplished by a little guy in an extremely short time with three instances of Super-selection!

If his own junior fellow apprentice, the boss's Closed-door disciple, were standing beside him, Ling Tian would likely have already been cheering excitedly.

But!

Everything was beyond redemption.

Ji Xiang was strong, strong beyond his expectations, strong to the point where he didn't even know how Ji Xiang had discovered that the Subclavian Artery had an abnormal branch.

"Clack~"

The Hemostatic Forceps tapped against the Radial styloid process of Ling Tian's left wrist.

"Teacher Ling, Micro-spring Coil," Ji Xiang said softly.

Ling Tian was tapped but felt no emotional change; the condition of this Patient had already exceeded his understanding.

It was not a branch of the internal mammary artery, but an accompanying hyperplastic small artery responsible for the blood supply. Finding such a vessel was harder than ascending to heaven!

Ling Tian was dazed; Muscle Memory turned him into a puppet assistant, and he handed the Spring Coil to Ji Xiang.

(End of chapter)