Super Doctor - Chapter 213

Xu Ze looked at the patient before him, unconsciously furrowing his brow while silently cursing inwardly. This guy was really cunning…

“Cough Under Investigation…” Even though Xu Ze hadn’t intentionally looked at it, with his sharp eyes, he caught the words written on the patient’s bedside card at a glance.

Patients who still had this “Under Investigation” label attached to them in the First Affiliated Hospital were mostly those whose cause of illness remained unclear. Given the hospital’s capabilities, if they had written “Under Investigation,” it meant the patient’s condition was extremely complex and difficult to diagnose.

The group of male students, who had been excitedly surrounding Xu Ze, hoping he could teach Li Moling a lesson, were now staring blankly at the “Cough Under Investigation” label. They sighed inwardly, thinking Li Moling was indeed cunning enough to bring out such a patient for Xu Ze. How could Xu Ze possibly turn the tables now?

Xu Ze gave a light snort. Pointing at the patient’s bedside card, he raised an eyebrow and said, “Dr. Li, you haven’t even confirmed a diagnosis for this one before showing him to me, have you?”

Seeing Xu Ze’s gloomy expression, Li Moling smiled triumphantly. He looked at Xu Ze and sneered, “Xu Ze… This patient only had the ‘Cough Under Investigation’ label when he was first admitted. It’s already been diagnosed. What, are you scared? Besides, if I gave you a patient with a clearly written diagnosis on the card, what would be the point of having you examine them?”

Xu Ze simply smiled faintly. Looking at the smug Li Moling, he said with a light chuckle, “Dr. Li, presenting me with a patient who entered this ward still labeled ‘Cough Under Investigation’… you certainly think highly of me.”

Though secretly stung by Xu Ze’s sarcasm, Li Moling’s face flushed only slightly. He still snorted, “If they were diagnosed before admission and the case was that simple, why would I bother having you look? Are you going to examine the patient or not?”

“Of course I am,” Xu Ze replied with a cold chuckle.

Xu Ze took out his stethoscope, carefully questioned the patient, and then conducted a detailed examination. It took him over ten minutes to finish. After completing the check-up, he lightly frowned. This patient really was somewhat peculiar. No wonder Li Moling was so confident.

Seeing Xu Ze’s furrowed brow, Li Moling secretly rejoiced. Even though this patient had already been diagnosed, he had been here for over a week. It took a joint consultation between Director Qian and several other doctors to finally reach a conclusion. I’d like to see how you, this kid, can figure out this illness.

Xu Ze was indeed puzzled. The main issue with this patient was a persistent cough for two months, unresponsive to treatment, which led him to seek care at the First Affiliated Hospital. The cough was primarily dry, without phlegm, and there was no chest pain, shortness of breath, significant fever, or chills. However, upon lung auscultation, aside from slightly diminished breath sounds, there were no other abnormal signs.

Moreover, the patient was only in his thirties with no history of smoking, making the cause of the cough rather strange…

Typically, based on the symptoms and signs, conditions like mycoplasma pneumonia, tuberculosis, or even lung cancer might be considered.

But Xu Ze knew that if the patient’s condition required coming to the First Affiliated Hospital for treatment and still warranted an “Under Investigation” label upon admission, it likely wasn’t that straightforward.

Also, logically, since the First Affiliated Hospital had already confirmed a diagnosis but the patient remained here for treatment, tuberculosis could probably be ruled out.

If it were tuberculosis, an infectious disease, the patient would have been transferred to the Infectious Diseases Department, not kept in Respiratory Medicine.

As for lung cancer, the patient was only thirty, a non-smoker, and lacked related symptoms or signs. That possibility was also very slim. Furthermore, if lung cancer were diagnosed, the patient would mostly likely be transferred to Oncology.

Having ruled out these two possibilities, Xu Ze could only consider mycoplasma pneumonia. However, given that the patient had been coughing for two months with a dry cough, other hospitals must have already considered this disease and administered relevant treatment for mycoplasma pneumonia.

Since the treatment was ineffective and a diagnosis was only confirmed here at the First Affiliated, the likelihood of this disease was also minimal. This line of thinking led him to consider other issues.

At this moment, Xu Ze’s two fine eyebrows drew together tightly as he quickly analyzed and pondered.

The classmates beside him, seeing the usually exceptionally capable Xu Ze now frowning, all grew tense. Not only the male students, but the female students were also worried. They held their breath, watching Xu Ze, afraid of disturbing his thoughts.

Beside him, Li Moling watched Xu Ze’s furrowed expression with inward glee. Take your time thinking… heh… if you can figure it out just like that, then I’ll truly admire you…

Interstitial lung disease… Mycoplasma disease… Central cough? Or something else…

After thinking briefly, Xu Ze decided to use X-ray fluoroscopy first to determine if there were any issues with the patient’s lungs.

“Activate X-ray fluoroscopy,” Xu Ze quietly commanded in his mind.

Beep… X-ray fluoroscopy activated. The system’s automatic response quickly replied to his command.

As the X-ray fluoroscopy activated, the patient’s lungs gradually became semi-transparent in Xu Ze’s vision. In the dimmed view, Xu Ze began carefully scanning the patient’s lungs.

Despite his scanning, the patient’s lungs seemed to have no apparent problems. The lung markings were relatively clear, and there were no patchy shadows or the like.

Seeing this, Xu Ze couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow. Sure enough, it’s not that simple. Since X-ray fluoroscopy revealed no issues, it could only be due to subtle pathological changes in the lungs or a problem of central nervous origin.

But to rule out subtle lung pathology, a lung CT scan or MRI would be necessary.

Currently, with his authority only at Level 2 Medical Corpsman, initiating a lung CT scan or MRI was probably impossible. That permission was likely Level 4 or 5. Even if he could temporarily activate Level 3 permissions, anything above Level 4 was still out of reach.

Xu Ze sighed softly, thinking that if he couldn’t see anything, he’d have to ask Li Moling for the relevant test data to analyze. He then turned to Li Moling and said, “Dr. Li, could you explain the relevant test data for this patient?”

“Hmph… Asking for it after all. I thought you were arrogant enough not to,” Li Moling sneered, then smiled. “Of course, I can provide the data, but you need to specify which aspects you want. Otherwise, if I report everything, what would be the point of your examination? You might as well just look at the results directly.”

Seeing that Li Moling didn’t refuse at all and still wore a confident, smug expression, Xu Ze couldn’t help but frown inwardly. Could it be that those test data aren’t helpful either?

Although he thought so, Xu Ze still nodded. “Alright… I need the complete blood count, chest X-ray, lung CT, and MRI.”

Much to Xu Ze’s surprise, Li Moling very readily recited all this data for him one by one…

The data were also within Xu Ze’s expectations. The complete blood count showed essentially normal white and red blood cell counts, with only a slight elevation in neutrophils, indicating a minor infection.

The chest X-ray, as he had seen himself, was completely normal. Moreover, the lung CT and MRI showed no abnormalities either.

Seeing this, Xu Ze raised an eyebrow again. Could it really be central cough, as I suspected?

Observing Xu Ze’s expression, Li Moling secretly laughed. All the tests Xu Ze asked about were the ones showing no problems. However, there was one bacterial culture test he hadn’t inquired about.

Generally, in such a situation where so many tests showed no issues, any doctor would first consider the possibility of mycoplasma pneumonia!

“If this Xu Ze truly has some ability, he’ll definitely consider this disease too and probably won’t consider other causes. But if he really does consider this… heh… then he’s doomed for sure. As for the actual disease, I bet he’d never even think of it.” Thinking this, Li Moling felt even more triumphant. However, he hadn’t considered that in certain areas of medical experience and knowledge, Xu Ze was actually far stronger than many senior doctors… and had already considered that possibility.

“Could it really be caused by central cough?” Xu Ze frowned, thinking hard for a while, but he still wasn’t entirely convinced. After all, why would a relatively young person, with no other abnormalities, develop this kind of central cough?

Still feeling uneasy, Xu Ze decided to examine the patient’s lungs once more himself. He had to be cautious. Xu Ze didn’t want to lose to this Li Moling because of a small oversight, not knowing how the guy might take advantage to bully him afterward.

If the patient’s lungs were truly fine, then he’d have to settle on the diagnosis of central cough.

Through this analysis, Xu Ze was quite confident that the Respiratory Medicine Department had likely reached the same diagnosis. Based on his combined analysis of these tests, having already ruled out mycoplasma pneumonia and found no other abnormalities, there really wasn’t any other more likely possibility…

Only central cough remained plausible…

“Activate X-ray fluoroscopy,” Xu Ze commanded again.

Beep… X-ray fluoroscopy function activated.

As the patient’s chest gradually became semi-transparent again, Xu Ze began intently scrutinizing the patient’s lungs.

He looked for a long time, and the lungs still seemed fine. Just as Xu Ze sighed and was about to stop, the system suddenly issued a warning alert: Anomaly detected… Mildly elevated pulmonary silicon reflection…