Chapter 463: Chapter 271: The Topic for the Second Half: Hybrid Technology

The afternoon’s competition was held directly in the main venue.

The twelve national finalists entered the waiting room together. They would present in reverse order of their morning rankings, starting from twelfth place.

After all the contestants were in the waiting room, the presidium, including Scholar Jiang and Dean Yu, conducted a live drawing for the final examination topic.

To ensure the assessment was just, fair, and transparent, the final round’s judging panel included not only the seven main judges from the presidium but also two additional judges selected from each of the seven major competition regions.

Once all preparations were complete, the first contestant for the afternoon session entered the stage.

He was Associate Chief Physician Wang Weiwei from the Air Force Medical University Xijing Hospital in the Northwest Region.

Upon reaching the final stage, Wang Weiwei was visibly nervous. This time, he was the sole focus on the massive screen, with the entire audience’s attention fixed on him.

In addition, viewers from all over the country were watching the live stream.

This was the highlight of Wang Weiwei’s life, but the pressure was also unprecedented.

Amidst Wang Weiwei’s anxiety, Dean Yu announced the afternoon’s examination topic:

"Discuss your views on treating complex cases of aortic disease involving the aortic arch."

Hearing the topic, Wang Weiwei began to think. The question could be answered in either a very general or a very specific way.

Aortic disease was something that cardiac surgeons encountered, admitted, and treated every single day.

It was a condition with a high mortality and complication rate, a true clinical pain point.

The main types of aortic disease Wang Weiwei had dealt with were aortic dissection and aortic aneurysm.

’With my current knowledge and experience, I can’t possibly give a high-level, comprehensive overview,’ Wang Weiwei considered. ’Since I can’t cover everything systematically, I should pick a specific entry point and explore it in depth.’

The afternoon assessment was timed; each contestant had only twenty minutes.

The time from hearing the question to analyzing it and then formulating an answer was extremely tight.

Wang Weiwei spent three minutes mulling over the topic, then another two minutes mentally outlining his response.

Then, still a little nervous, he began to speak:

"Distinguished judges, aortic disease has always been a severe challenge we clinicians face daily... Today, I would like to present my views on Type A aortic dissection..."

"For Type A aortic dissection, traditional surgery remains the primary treatment. However, open-heart surgery requires deep hypothermic circulatory arrest, which is highly traumatic and carries high rates of mortality and complications..."

"Therefore, regarding this traditional surgical approach, I’d like to share some insights my team and I have gathered from our clinical experience..."

"Based on our experience with over 140 cases, our team has developed a modified method for extracorporeal perfusion..."

Wang Weiwei proceeded to give a detailed explanation of his team’s modified Surgical Technique, finishing his presentation in the final minute.

"Distinguished judges, those are my insights on Type A aortic dissection as a form of aortic disease."

"The contestant’s answer is complete."

After all, Wang Weiwei was a senior associate chief physician who had performed hundreds, if not thousands, of solid, real-world surgeries. When he spoke about specific cases, his account was vivid, and his nervousness vanished.

After Wang Weiwei finished, it was time for the judges’ commentary.

From the presidium, Dean Yu offered his thoughts:

"First, congratulations, Director Wang, on making it to the top twelve. Just by standing here, you’ve already proven yourself to be one of the standouts of the younger generation in Jin Country Heart Surgery... Your clinical experience with Type A aortic dissection is impressive and has brought new ideas and methods to light..."

"Overall, your answer had a clear beginning and end, a distinct focus, and a complete structure. That was quite good."

"However, Director Wang, your answer was a bit too clever, a bit too focused and narrow. This topic is, in fact, a major challenge we in cardiac surgery are currently tackling. Beyond traditional surgical options, the judging committee was hoping to see a broader perspective..."

At Dean Yu’s prompting, it dawned on Wang Weiwei. He asked, a little ruefully, "Dean Yu, are you referring to the treatment of aortic disease using endovascular interventional methods?"

Wang Weiwei was, after all, a top-tier new-generation cardiac surgeon who could take a hint. Unfortunately, he hadn’t done much research on endovascular interventional therapy.

Dean Yu deliberately guided him with another hint:

"Director Wang, what are your thoughts on using an aortic stent graft to extend the proximal landing zone, thereby achieving endovascular exclusion of lesions in the aortic arch?"

What Dean Yu was referring to was a treatment method from Fuwai Hospital’s research project, "The Application of Hybrid Technology in Cardiovascular Surgery." It was a combination of traditional surgery and interventional therapy, but it was still in the clinical exploration phase.

Hearing about this brand-new approach that combined traditional surgery with interventional therapy, Wang Weiwei thought for a moment. He had no systematic understanding of it, so he could only scratch the surface.

"Such a combination could reduce the debranching process required for aortic replacement and lessen surgical trauma... However, there are also issues with stent graft retrieval, and perhaps a risk of retrograde dissection during the procedure?"

Wang Weiwei answered briefly.

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