As Xie Wanying conducted the auscultation, an image of a rapidly beating heart appeared in her mind, looking poorly formed and structured. She thought: Indeed, her first impression was correct. One could sense it without using Special Ability—it was very likely an adult patient with Tetralogy of Fallot.
Tetralogy of Fallot is one of the most common congenital heart diseases. It usually manifests at birth, and the best age for surgery is around one year old. The older the patient, the more dangerous it becomes. Many patients don't live to adulthood, with an average life span of twelve years for those who are not operated on. Less than three percent of adult patients live to forty years old.
One could say that this young man is lucky to have lived until now. In the 1980s in China, there were very few hospitals that could perform congenital heart disease surgery. Children from ordinary families were basically waiting for death.
