Healing Doctor

Chapter 641 Malignant Hypertension and Snacks

"Dr. Xiao Ji, what are your thoughts?" Deputy Director Zou simply stopped playing games and asked directly.

"When I first saw the patient, she was drinking water, and then she went to the restroom while I was taking her medical history. She just went to the restroom again, and I think there must be a connection between the two."

"Is it related to suspected high blood pressure? Or is the frequent and urgent urination caused by a urinary tract infection?" Lin Jiu asked.

As soon as the words left his mouth, Lin Jiu realized something was wrong.

He was very clear about his own persona. Although his purpose in talking to Ji Xiang was somewhat complicated, it definitely did not include offending Ji Xiang.

but!

When faced with Ji Xiang's "unreliable" statement, Lin Jiu couldn't help but want to make sarcastic remarks.

This is a far cry from his usual harmless image.

Why would I dislike Ji Xiang?

Lin Jiu felt a chill run down his spine and immediately focused all his attention to suppress any extraneous thoughts.

You can't offend a master, and Lin Jiu never thought he was the best in the world, otherwise he wouldn't have stayed after the show ended.

"The patient doesn't look very healthy."

Complexion and high blood pressure—two unrelated words put together, creating a lot of points of contention, while Lin Jiu was itching to act.

He forced himself to endure it and didn't complain.

But Lin Jiuze once again began to doubt his own judgment.

Is Ji Xiang truly a master diagnostician, or is he just a weakling who relies on luck to make diagnoses every time?

However, it is now certain that Ji Xiang's surgery is top-notch.

Lin Jiu was completely bewildered by the strange-looking boy and couldn't figure out Ji Xiang's tactics at all.

Deputy Director Zou remained noncommittal. When the patient returned, he asked, "Have you had your blood pressure checked recently?"

"No, my blood pressure has always been normal, and I don't usually remember to measure it," the patient replied.

Deputy Director Zou asked the nurses to bring a mercury sphygmomanometer, and instead of letting the patient use the electronic sphygmomanometer at the nurses' station, he measured the patient's blood pressure himself.

Lin Jiu then rushed to stand behind Deputy Director Zou, aiming at the mercury column in the mercury sphygmomanometer.

Although the stethoscope wasn't on his ear, the fluctuations in the mercury column could tell the story.

Deputy Director Zou squeezed the ball, increasing the pressure, and the cuff made a creaking sound.

As the mercury column rose and then slowly descended, Lin Jiuze narrowed his eyes, watching intently.

The mercury column began to fluctuate as soon as it dropped below 200 mmHg.

Lin Jiu's heart tightened.

Did Ji Xiang "guess" right again?!

That's impossible. The patient is so young, and she herself said she has no history of hypertension.

Teachers typically have 1-2 physical examinations a year, so high blood pressure is unlikely to be missed.

At this moment, Lin Jiu even began to doubt whether his eyes were playing tricks on him and whether he was misreading the fluctuations of the mercury column.

The fluctuations became more pronounced when the mercury column dropped below 190 mmHg.

"Huh?" Deputy Director Zou asked softly, puzzled.

Soon, Lin Jiu determined that the patient's systolic blood pressure was at least around 185 mmHg and his diastolic blood pressure was around 130 mmHg.

This falls under the category of malignant hypertension.

A young patient with no medical history was initially diagnosed with rectal bleeding. How could his blood pressure be so high?! Adding to that the frequent urination the patient just mentioned…

These symptoms, signs, and examinations plunged Lin Jiu into a strange vortex from which he could not extricate himself.

These symptoms are scattered and don't connect at all.

"Your blood pressure is so high," Deputy Director Zou said, frowning. "Haven't you noticed it? When was the last time you had your blood pressure checked?"

"No, I have no history of hypertension, nor any family history." The patient seemed a little confused. "The last time... I don't remember."

"What about the physical exam?"

"I said my blood pressure was normal, and the doctor just wrote down a number and brushed it off."

"Was the measurement wrong?" someone asked.

Deputy Director Zou measured the blood pressure again, and the result was similar to the previous measurement.

I measured my blood pressure again with an electronic blood pressure monitor, and the systolic pressure was fluctuating around 190 mmHg.

High blood pressure, from oliguria to polyuria—Lin Jiu's brain CPU was already spinning rapidly, generating so much heat it was practically smoking from his head.

He quickly wrote in his notebook, glancing up at the patient as he finished.

Finally, a rare diagnosis appeared on the notebook—hyperaldosteronism.

Lin Jiu looked up, and the anxiety and confusion in his eyes finally turned into calm.

It's it!

However, hyperaldosteronism is caused by tumors or hyperplasia of the zona glomerulosa of the adrenal cortex, resulting in increased aldosterone secretion. The patient had an abdominal CT scan, but no tumors or hyperplasia were found in the adrenal glands.

but……

Lin Jiu then looked at the bottled water in the patient's hand.

Everything was so strange.

"Please check your blood potassium levels to see if there's anything wrong with your potassium ion levels," Ji Xiang said.

"Oh? Dr. Ji, what do you suspect?" Deputy Director Zou asked.

"I smell licorice on the patient," Ji Xiang said, a statement that seemed unrelated to the diagnosis.

Licorice flavor?

Deputy Director Zou was taken aback, and Zhao Zhe was also stunned. What did this mean?

Do you cough often?

The patient and his family looked at Ji Xiang in surprise. Before they could answer, Xie Kai said disdainfully, "What does coughing have to do with rectal bleeding? Zhao Zhe, you work with this kind of person?"

"Old Xie!" Zhao Zhe whispered.

"What? Am I wrong?" Xie Kai said with a disdainful look. "You don't ask a medical history like that."

"It seems there's a connection. Do you cough often? What medicine do you take to suppress a cough?" Ji Xiang ignored Xie Kai and looked at the patient with a gentle smile.

"I've had lung problems since I was a child, and I always cough. The doctor said I have chronic bronchitis. My cough gets worse in winter, which is why I'm planning to go to Hainan for winter vacation," the patient said.

She was a bit long-winded, but Ji Xiang wasn't in a hurry. Instead, he smiled and watched the patient wait for her to continue.

"I've only ever taken compound glycyrrhiza tablets for coughs since I was a child. They work really well; the cough stops after taking them."

No wonder the patient didn't cough during the physical examination; it turns out she had been taking medication.

"It's not easy to prescribe compound glycyrrhiza tablets now." Ji Xiang started chatting with the patient about everyday things.

"Yes, when I was in school, I could buy it at the pharmacy outside, but now I need a doctor's prescription, and I can't buy it at the pharmacy, so I have to go to the hospital." The patient said with some distress, "I have to count the doses carefully."

"Besides compound glycyrrhiza tablets, what else do you usually take?"

"No, all medicines have side effects, I only take this one," the patient replied confidently.

"Oh, I wasn't talking about medicine. More like..." Ji Xiang hesitated slightly, "...snacks, I guess."

Several doctors cast questioning glances at him.

Taking a patient's medical history and asking what medications they've taken is normal, but Ji Xiang actually started asking what snacks they've been eating.

Lin Jiuze, in particular, had never seen compound glycyrrhiza tablets at Massachusetts General Hospital, so he had no idea what Ji Xiang was doing.

(End of this chapter)