The video connection began.
There was Lee Junbeom, chief of neurosurgery at Mount Sinai; Michael Harrison, professor of neurology at Johns Hopkins; Jennifer Cambridge, professor of neurology at Harvard; and Robert Chen, chief of neurology at Mount Sinai. All four were world-renowned experts in neurology.
Even within the same medical field, their status and Taeho’s were as different as heaven and earth.
Taeho swallowed dryly.
When Lee Junho had said his father would hear Taeho’s opinion together with his colleagues, he had thought it would be fine. But now that the doctors had actually appeared on the screen, Taeho could not help but feel tense.
The doctors on the screen wore different expressions, but they all had one thing in common: they were looking at Taeho coldly.
“Hello, Mister Kang.”
Chief Lee Junbeom spoke first.
Taeho had expected that even though Chief Lee Junbeom was Korean, he would conduct the questioning strictly in English. Moreover, the fact that he deliberately used “Mister” instead of the usual title “Doctor” read as an attempt to take the initiative and put Taeho in his place.
“First, why don’t we hear about your background?”
“I graduated from Hankuk University College of Medicine, and I currently run a local clinic in Geumsan-ri, Gangwon Province.”
“You do have a specialist certification, I assume?”
“I do not.”
When Taeho answered, the doctors stirred. It was only for a brief moment, but their reactions varied—from someone openly frowning to someone sighing as if the whole thing were absurd.
Then Dr. Harrison of Johns Hopkins leaned toward the screen and asked sharply.
“Papers? Do you have any recent research achievements? Especially any research experience related to SSPE?”
His tone was blatant. To a man who had spent twenty years studying epilepsy alone, an unknown country doctor was not even worth discussing a disease with.
Taeho answered honestly.
“I don’t have many papers or research achievements.”
“Then have you ever treated an SSPE patient directly?”
Dr. Cambridge of Harvard asked in a cold voice.
“No.”
The screen stirred once more.
The doctors on the screen exchanged meaningful glances.
They did not say it aloud—That fraud—but their eyes said it for them.
As the atmosphere froze over, Dr. Chen of Mount Sinai spoke cautiously.
“Dr. Kang, please understand. SSPE is an extremely rare disease, with only a few cases reported worldwide each year. It is a matter that must be approached with caution.”
“You professors are correct. But patients are not treated with papers. What they need is someone who can make accurate, swift judgments in the field and take action.”
When Taeho spoke without shrinking back, the atmosphere among the doctors shifted slightly.
All of them had seen countless doctors, from interns to specialists. They knew very well how difficult it was to speak with such calm confidence in front of eminent physicians like themselves.
Dr. Chen of Mount Sinai said,
“But Dr. Kang, an SSPE diagnosis must be made very carefully. Have you considered the effect a misdiagnosis could have on the patient?”
“Junho’s illness has been reviewed by the world’s best medical teams for two years. Isn’t your conclusion too hasty?”
Chief Lee Junbeom followed up coldly.
Because he thought of Taeho as a country swindler who had bewitched his naive son, he was more hostile than the other doctors.
Taeho brought up a video of Lee Junho on the screen. It was footage capturing myoclonic spasms appearing in Lee Junho’s shoulders and neck.
“Hasty, you say? I saw the patient’s symptoms with my own eyes, and I observed him while staying with him for several days.”
Strength entered Taeho’s voice.
“If you see this video and still have doubts, then the problem is not my inadequacy. It is that all of you have kept too great a distance from the patient.”
The four doctors on the screen showed different reactions.
Dr. Harrison was frowning, while Dr. Cambridge analyzed the video with a sharp gaze. Dr. Chen folded his arms and nodded.
Chief Lee Junbeom pressed his lips tightly together at the sight of his son.
For a moment, silence filled the screen.
Dr. Cambridge said coldly,
“Then, Dr. Kang, let us hear the specific basis on which you diagnosed SSPE, aside from that video. Please explain logically and systematically.”
Her tone clearly revealed her intention to test Taeho.
Calmly, Taeho displayed the materials he had prepared on the screen.
“First, the characteristic myoclonic jerks observed in the patient. They show a distinctly different pattern from ordinary epileptic seizures.”
Dr. Cambridge immediately refuted him with an expressionless face.
“Myoclonic jerks can appear in plenty of other neurological diseases. I don’t see anything particularly special.”
As if he had expected that, Taeho calmly showed the next material. He enlarged the spasms in Lee Junho’s shoulder muscles and played them back slowly.
“That’s correct, Dr. Cambridge. But look closely at the pattern here. They repeat at precise three-second intervals. This kind of regular rhythmic pattern is almost never seen in ordinary diseases.”
Dr. Harrison’s expression changed. The professional intuition of a man who had studied nothing but epilepsy for twenty years was responding.
“Interesting. This periodicity certainly looks unusual.”
Dr. Chen cut in.
“But that alone cannot confirm SSPE.”
“Of course. Second, the cognitive arrest phenomenon.”
A new video played. It showed Lee Junho having an ordinary conversation, then suddenly stopping for one or two seconds before continuing to speak again.
“The patient repeatedly falls into momentary cognitive blank states during conversation.”
At that moment, Dr. Chen hurriedly interrupted.
“Wait. That phenomenon—we observed it as well.”
Chief Lee Junbeom looked at his colleague in surprise.
Dr. Chen continued, slightly flustered.
“At the time, we considered it a side effect of lamotrigine and didn’t look into it any further.”
“If it were a drug side effect, the symptoms should have improved with dosage adjustment. But the patient’s symptoms continued to progress despite changes in medication.”
Taeho shook his head.
Dr. Harrison brought his face closer to the screen and said,
“This myoclonic pattern really is unusual. Such a regular pattern is rare. We may have missed something.”
Unlike at first, Dr. Harrison’s voice had softened.
Dr. Cambridge checked the video again and asked,
“Dr. Kang, how did you catch such a subtle difference?”
“Because I stayed with the patient for several days and observed the changes that appeared in his daily life.”
Of course, along with his enhanced intuition.
When Taeho spoke calmly, Dr. Chen nodded as if deeply impressed.
“That kind of observation is something we failed to do.”
Chief Lee Junbeom spoke while hiding his complicated feelings.
“But don’t we still need conclusive evidence?”
“Lastly, the cerebrospinal fluid analysis results.”
Taeho displayed the test sheet from Gilcheon Medical Center on the screen.
“The measles virus IgG antibody is borderline at 1:32. Oligoclonal bands were also faintly detected.”
Chief Lee Junbeom asked sharply,
“If it’s borderline, doesn’t that fall short of the diagnostic criteria?”
“That’s correct. It is difficult to confirm the diagnosis with individual tests alone.”
Taeho readily admitted it.
“But what if we put all of these clinical findings together?”
“Each piece of evidence is weak, but the pattern consistently points to SSPE.”
Dr. Cambridge nodded.
Dr. Harrison spoke with a hint of admiration.
“Comprehensive clinical judgment. This is true diagnostics.”
The atmosphere was turning favorable toward Taeho.
Dr. Chen also added cautiously,
“You found a diagnosis through clinical observation that we nearly missed by relying only on test results.”
Chief Lee Junbeom, too, noticed the change in his colleagues. They were lowering their guard and accepting Kang Taeho’s opinion.
Dr. Cambridge said,
“Dr. Kang. It seems there were things we overlooked.”
Dr. Cambridge leaned forward on the screen and studied Taeho closely.
“Wait a moment. Dr. Kang… Taeho. Are you, by any chance, the Dr. Kang Taeho from the high-dose TNF-alpha inhibitor therapy for hidradenitis suppurativa?”
“Ah… yes, that’s correct.”
Taeho answered in confusion at the sudden mention of a paper.
After treating Mei, he had once published a paper together with Seong Gihwan. Seong Gihwan had handled all the data organization, and Taeho had merely put his name on it, but…
Dr. Cambridge’s expression changed completely. Her cold gaze transformed into astonishment in an instant.
“And the customized TNF-alpha therapy for Itai-itai disease as well?”
“Yes. That is also correct.”
Dr. Cambridge suddenly pushed her face toward the screen in excitement.
“Everyone! Do you know who you are talking to right now?”
The other doctors looked bewildered.
“This man is an innovator in modern immunological treatment!”
“Jennifer, what do you mean?”
Unable to hide her excitement, Dr. Cambridge began to explain.
“Dr. Kang Taeho and Dr. Seong Gihwan’s paper on hidradenitis suppurativa is currently the hottest topic in our Harvard dermatology department.”
“What?”
“It’s a case in which they completely cured a severe hidradenitis suppurativa patient, for whom all existing treatments had failed, with high-dose TNF-alpha therapy. It is a paper dermatologists all over the world will be referencing in the future!”
The expressions of the other professors on the screen began to change rapidly.
Dr. Cambridge spoke almost as if shouting.
“And that’s not all. What about the case where they produced a small amount of a personally customized TNF-alpha treatment and treated Itai-itai disease—again, in a small provincial region of Korea! If it hadn’t been under those circumstances, it would have been far more sensational than it is now.”
Around 1.5 million medical papers were published worldwide every year.
To Taeho, Dr. Cambridge seemed even more impressive for having found and read papers that had not come from a prestigious university laboratory and had not been written by a famous medical scholar.
I thought no one was interested, but they were reading it at Harvard.
Ah, right. Our Gihwan did major in immunology at Harvard.
Dr. Cambridge pressed her palm to her forehead and shook her head.
“Oh, God! What have I been doing all this time?”
Chief Lee Junbeom was staring at Taeho with a completely dazed expression.
This man wasn’t a country swindler, but a hidden expert?
Dr. Cambridge said seriously,
“Dr. Kang, I consider your research genius.”
“You flatter me.”
“No! Overcoming the limitations of existing treatments and making the impossible possible—that is true medicine! You are a truly brilliant doctor! Everyone, take a good look at this young genius’s face. He will become a great star in the global medical community.”
“Oh, there’s no need to go that far…”
Taeho thought it was difficult to get used to Western exaggeration.
Dr. Harrison said in admiration,
“Hidradenitis suppurativa and Itai-itai disease. To treat completely different diseases through the same mechanism… Very interesting. I’ll have to look up the papers immediately.”
“Please do read them. It was an innovative approach that showed new possibilities for TNF-alpha.”
Once her excitement settled, Dr. Cambridge added as if making a declaration.
“If Dr. Kang Taeho diagnoses it as SSPE, I will not doubt him.”
The atmosphere had already been decided.