Lighthouse inheritance | Wu Mengchao: A doctor with a heart of compassion and a heart of bravery

He performed the first liver cancer middle lobectomy in China.

He set many world records in hepatobiliary surgery

He is an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences

Wu Mengchao, the "Father of Chinese Hepatobiliary Surgery"

Wonderful Quotes

"As a doctor, I have realized the value of life, the loftiness of responsibility, and the meaning of life. It seems that I will never be able to put down the scalpel in my life. I have repeatedly expressed my personal wish: If one day I really fall down, let me fall down in the operating room, that will be the greatest happiness of my life! "

——Wu Mengchao

Wu Mengchao (August 1922-May 2021), a native of Minqing, Fujian, was a famous hepatobiliary surgery expert, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, one of the pioneers and main founders of liver surgery in China, and was known as the "Father of Hepatobiliary Surgery in China". He was an important promoter of liver surgery in my country. He successfully completed the first liver surgery in my country, and also developed a liver surgery technology system that suits the Chinese physique, which has increased the success rate of liver cancer surgery in my country from less than 50% to more than 90%. In his more than 70 years of medical practice, Academician Wu Mengchao has completed more than 16,000 operations, successfully treated more than 20,000 patients, and won nearly 40 awards including the National Highest Science and Technology Award and more than 30 various honors. On May 22, 2021, Wu Mengchao died in Shanghai at the age of 99 due to ineffective treatment of his illness.

Innocent Heart

Serve the Motherland

Wu Mengchao often said: "I have taken three right paths in my life: returning to my country, joining the army, and joining the party. If I were not in my own country, I might be rich, but I would not have my career; if I were not in the People's Army, I might be a doctor, but I would not be where I am today; if I had not joined the party organization, I might be a good person, but I would not be a member of the proletarian vanguard. Becoming a doctor has given me a platform to strive for my pursuits."

Wu Mengchao's childhood was spent in wandering. In 1927, when he was 5 years old, he moved to Malaysia with his family. He tapped rubber and did housework in the morning and went to school in the afternoon. With this part-time work and study life, Wu Mengchao was admitted to Guanghua Junior High School founded by local overseas Chinese after graduating from elementary school.

After that, the Anti-Japanese War broke out. The long journey could not stop a patriotic young man from serving his country. "Return to China to find the Communist Party and go to the front line to fight against Japan!" With this simple wish, Wu Mengchao set out on his journey back to China in the spring of 1940. Due to the blockade of the war, he could not go to Yan'an. After returning to China, he first studied and was admitted to Tongji Medical College, becoming a student of Qiu Fazu, the "Father of Chinese Surgery".

Wu Mengchao witnessed the victory of the Anti-Japanese War and the War of Liberation, and witnessed the liberation of Shanghai. At this time, "I want to join the Communist Party of China" and "I want to become a member of the People's Liberation Army" became Wu Mengchao's strong desire. From 1949 to 1956, he submitted 19 applications to join the party, and finally became a glorious member of the Communist Party in 1956.

In the long journey of life that followed, the power of faith always inspired Wu Mengchao, urging him to forge ahead, to climb one medical peak after another, and to achieve one scientific achievement after another.

Enter the restricted area

Fighting the “King of Cancer”

In 1958, Changhai Hospital admitted a patient with liver cancer and invited a foreign authoritative doctor to perform the operation. At that time, Wu Mengchao participated in the operation as an assistant. The operation lasted for 5 hours, and the patient's liver continued to bleed. Two days later, the patient died of excessive blood loss.

Qiu Fazu told Wu Mengchao: "World medicine is developing very fast, but liver surgery is currently very weak. my country is still blank in this area. Unfortunately, my country is also a high-incidence area for liver diseases. If you are determined, you can develop in this direction." With this, Wu Mengchao plunged into the field of liver surgery. Liver cancer is called the "king of cancer" and has a very high mortality rate. At that time, Chinese accounted for about half of the new liver cancer patients in the world each year. Wu Mengchao was determined to "throw the hat of China, a liver cancer country, into the Pacific Ocean."

Ideals are beautiful, but reality is full of thorns. At that time, Chinese liver surgery was in a "three-no" situation: no textbooks, no liver anatomy theory, and no successful precedents of liver cancer resection surgery. Wu Mengchao plunged into the library and found a book "Introduction to Liver Surgery" written by an American . Together with his colleague Fang Zhiyang, he translated this book of more than 200,000 words. This is also the world's first Chinese translation of liver surgery.

After that, Wu Mengchao, Zhang Xiaohua and Hu Hongkai formed a "three-person research team" to tackle the "king of cancers", with Wu Mengchao as the team leader. The three young people worked in the ward during the day and got together at night to discuss and conduct experiments.

In 1959, Wu Mengchao's team established the classic anatomical theory of the Chinese liver's "five lobes and four segments", laying the theoretical foundation for liver surgery in China; in 1960, he successfully completed the first liver cancer resection operation and invented the "intermittent hepatic portal occlusion method at room temperature", creating a precedent for hemostasis in liver surgery in China ; in 1963, Wu Mengchao successfully completed the world's first middle liver lobectomy, making China a leader in international hepatobiliary surgery. On September 17, 1964, the front-page headline of Wenhui Daily reported "The Story of the "Three-Person Research Team" Climbing the Peak of Liver Surgery": In just seven years, Wu Mengchao led his team from scratch, constantly innovating, and achieved major breakthroughs in theoretical basic research and clinical treatment of liver surgery in China .

In medicine, Wu Mengchao has created many miracles. He removed a 18-kilogram hepatic cavernous hemangioma, the largest in the world to date; he removed a hepatoblastoma from a 4-month-old baby girl, breaking the world record for the youngest patient to undergo liver surgery; the longest liver cancer patient who underwent his surgery has survived for 45 years, also setting a world record.

In 2011, the Shanghai World Guinness Headquarters officially sent a letter: 88-year-old Wu Mengchao performed 190 liver tumor resection operations in 2010, setting a Guinness World Record for the oldest surgeon who still performs operations frequently . After this record, Wu Mengchao continued his legend for many years: he stayed on the front line until he officially retired at the age of 97, becoming the world's oldest surgeon.

"Our country's diagnosis accuracy, surgical success rate and postoperative survival rate for liver diseases have all reached the world's leading level. Patients from developed countries come to China for treatment!" Wu Mengchao said this movingly during an interview before his death. What is also unforgettable to the reporter is that he also had a deeper consideration for the future development of hepatobiliary surgery. "We should attach importance to basic research, consider the patients when treating them, and not always use expensive drugs. We should be able to cure patients cheaper and better."

A garden full of peaches and plums

Bringing out 80% of the core strength of hepatobiliary surgery

There is an unwritten rule in the field of surgery that whoever has the highest position on the operating table bears the main responsibility. Wu Mengchao is never afraid of taking responsibility: "What does reputation mean? I am just Wu Mengchao!"

Wu Mengchao has won numerous honors and titles throughout his life, but the three that he values ​​most are: being a member of the Communist Party, being a "doctor" to his patients, and being a "teacher" to his students. Today, 80% of the backbone of hepatobiliary surgery in China are Wu Mengchao's students.

Ye Zhixia, director of the Clinical Nursing Teaching and Research Section of Shanghai Oriental Hepatobiliary Surgery Hospital, has worked with Wu Mengchao for more than 30 years. What she admires most is Wu Mengchao's courage and responsibility: "Rescuing patients" is what Wu Mengchao does most often. If any operation is not done well, Wu will rush in immediately.

In order to help young people grow up quickly, Wu Mengchao is good at setting the stage for them. Yuan Zhengang, director of the Oncology Department of Shanghai Oriental Hepatobiliary Surgery Hospital, still remembers the difficult journey of establishing the Oncology Department from scratch with the support of his teacher. "The teacher is willing to let young people explore, and the teacher strongly supports what talents, equipment and venues are needed to establish an oncology department." Wu Mengchao has the foresight and broad mind to develop the Hepatobiliary Surgery Hospital into a comprehensive hospital with complete departments. Under his support and guidance, more and more young people have taken up the heavy responsibility on their shoulders.

“As long as the patient needs

I am always ready to fight."

When Wu Mengchao taught young people, he often said: "Virtue comes first, and skills come second." He also often quoted his mentor Qiu Fazu's words: "Be content with what you are doing, know your shortcomings when doing things, and never be satisfied with what you are learning."

Great doctors have great love, and this love often makes people around them feel warm.

It is said that Wu Mengchao is very stingy in life. His surgical meals usually consist of two dishes and one soup. The staff once wanted to change it to four dishes and one soup, but he disagreed: "I am old and can't eat that much."

Zhang Peng, who has worked with Wu Mengchao for many years, revealed a detail: Wu Mengchao was famous for being stingy in the hospital. He would turn off the faucet as tight as possible after washing his hands, turn off the lights even if he was out of the office for a few minutes, and make sure the dishes on his plate were "distributed according to demand" when eating. Wu Mengchao's "standard" action after get off work was to lock the door and turn off the lights.

But Wu Mengchao was also extremely generous. In 1996, he used his own bonus and social donations of 5 million yuan to establish the "Wu Mengchao Hepatobiliary Surgery Fund", focusing on supporting medical and scientific research personnel who have made outstanding achievements in the hepatobiliary field ; in 2006, he used all the bonuses of 6 million yuan from the National Highest Science and Technology Award and other awards to go to the hospital for basic research and talent training; in 2008, he donated emergency medicines worth 5 million yuan to the disaster area as soon as the Wenchuan earthquake occurred...

Holding a lancet in hand, with great love in his heart. After winning the highest national science and technology award, everyone thought that this was the peak of Wu Mengchao's career, but he did not stop. He joined forces with 6 well-known academicians to submit a proposal to the State Council on "Integrated Research on the Pathogenesis and Prevention of Hepatitis B and Liver Cancer", which was included in the national major science and technology projects.

Since then, Wu Mengchao, who is over 80 years old, has been working hard to establish the National Liver Cancer Science Center. His hard work paid off. In December 2010, the National Development and Reform Commission officially approved the establishment of the National Liver Cancer Science Center, which is the second national center in my country after the establishment of the National Nanotechnology Center. Then, he led his team to carefully select a site, and finally chose Anting Town, Jiading District to build the National Liver Cancer Science Center and the new Anting branch of the Oriental Hepatobiliary Surgery Hospital.

During the preparation period, Wu Mengchao went to Beijing several times to coordinate and communicate related matters. One day, after finishing his report, he was very tired and had to rest against the wall every few steps. The accompanying staff sighed: "At his age, Mr. Wu not only has to perform surgery on the operating table, but also has to run around to prepare for the construction of the new hospital. He is really working hard." In early 2017, a modern building covering an area of ​​30,000 square meters was officially completed. That day, Wu Mengchao, who was already 95 years old, was extremely excited.

The liver and gallbladder are in harmony, and the lancet never ages. Wu Mengchao likes this famous saying of the medical master Qiu Fazu: Those who are not close to Buddha in virtue cannot be doctors .

The unity of knowledge and action, Wu Mengchao spent his whole life practicing this saying.

Comprehensive editor: Wenhui Daily, People's Daily