Dr. Cornel Lungu is a primary care physician with general ultrasound experience at Hyperclinica MedLife Grivița. Although his childhood dream was to become a helicopter pilot, at the end of high school he suddenly turned to medicine, a decision that turned out to be a good one. Now, 40 years later, he declares that he is in love with his profession and, in particular, with ultrasound as a research method. Behind his shoulders are several innovations and for the first time, and even if he does not control helicopters, he “controls” a high-performance 4D ultrasound machine, which is among the five best in the world. With his help, as well as on the basis of constant research and accumulated experience, he can make an accurate diagnosis. He greets his patients with a kind word and relaxes them with a joke when he sees them upset, because he knows how important it is for them to receive not only the correct diagnosis from the doctor, but also compassion.

Dr. Lungu was in the twelfth grade of a high school in Kimpulung (Arjesh) when he dreamed of becoming a helicopter pilot or an engineer. Four grades in mathematics made him abandon engineering and toy with the idea of ​​medicine. He prepared for the exam, passed it and became a student at the “Carol Davila” University of Medicine and Pharmacy in Bucharest. After graduation, he was sent to Timisoara, where he worked as an intern for several months. He later returned to Argesh, passed his family medicine exam, and then became a primary care physician. However, his interest in the technical field accompanied him all these years, so in 1996 he passed the exam for the qualification of ultrasound, and from that moment sonography became his great passion.

Fascination with perfect images of the inside of the body

“Ultrasound is an impressive field. Apparently, since so many new imaging methods have appeared, the evolution of ultrasound had to stop. But everything was not like that, moreover, new things appear. Think of the original ultrasound as an interpreted graph where you can see if there is an obstruction in the scanned area, such as a lump. Now the devices have evolved so much, both in the design of sensors and in the field of software, that today we have achieved perfect 4D ultrasound images, such as images during pregnancy, where we can see the fetus very clearly, including its features,” explains the doctor.

He finds it no less exciting that modern devices, such as the one he is working on, allow him to see clearly and make the correct diagnosis without subjecting the patient to other, invasive tests. “Thanks to the evolution of software, we have come to the point where with the help of ultrasound you can see very small things, the existence of which we only knew until now. There are a few times when I need to refer a patient to another imaging modality because the machine helps me make a clear diagnosis or rule out certain diagnoses. It’s extraordinary when patients find out after an ultrasound that they don’t need to operate.”

“Liver puncture is replaced by elastography”

Another branch of ultrasound that fascinates him is elastography. “This is the application of ultrasound, which is indispensable today, with the help of which we can see the degree of hardness of the tissue compared to the surrounding tissues. And it’s evolved a lot, it used to be qualitative elastography that would stain the corresponding nodule a certain color and you could see if it was benign or malignant. Today, you measure specifically and get much more data. Elastography started with the breast and thyroid gland, but now we have come to replace liver puncture with elastography.”

The practice of family medicine helps him in diagnosis and communication with patients

Like any technical field, ultrasound is still in its infancy, and physicians need constant awareness and training to benefit from innovation. Dr. Lungu says that constant learning and attending conventions are necessary to learn new things. For example, at the next congress of the European Society of Ultrasound, the implementation of artificial intelligence in ultrasound will be widely discussed, which is the next step in the evolution of the field.

The fact that he was a family doctor for 7 years helps him both in understanding the patient’s condition or diagnosis, and in his referral. “This experience is a great advantage for both me and the patient because I’m not just giving you a simple result and sending it to a specialist. I know how to take a history, see the clinical context and the evolution of things over time. Many times I was able to see certain things on the sonography, knowing the clinical context and learning indirect signs from the patient.”

In addition to careful examination of images and the ability to make a clear diagnosis, the doctor places great importance on communication with patients, which has been practiced over the years that he has practiced family medicine. “I am an optimistic person and I try to instill the same in every patient. The same recipe does not work for everyone, not everyone responds to a joke or relaxes with a kind word. You have to find a way to adapt to each of them and communicate what you see in their understanding. Sooner or later, I, the doctor, also become a patient and I know how I want to be treated by a specialist, so I treat my patients in the same way, both humanly and medically.”

Qualities of a good doctor and the most valuable lesson about limitations: “The worst thing is to think that you know everything”

What does a good ultrasound doctor mean to Dr. Cornel Lungu? “First of all, he is a professionally trained doctor. He is ready to constantly learn, constantly adapt and keep abreast of developments, because approaches are constantly changing. For example, stones in the gall bladder. Previously, they were obliged to operate. Now the debate is nuanced. In addition, a good doctor must have a vocation. Medicines cannot be made by force or for money. If you do, it affects the reactions of the patients. Last but not least, a good doctor should always do his best, but also be able to work in a team, ask for advice or opinions when he is unsure about something, and be aware of his own limits as well as the limits of the device. The worst thing is to think you know everything and arrogantly reject any cooperation,” he says.

He learned the limits of medicine firsthand 20 years ago when his mother was diagnosed with metastases and doctors were unable to determine the primary source of the cancer. It was a stumbling moment for Dr. Lungu when, as he too could not find his mother’s problem, he was tempted to quit his job. “The metastasis was found completely by chance, it was confirmed by three different laboratories, but I could not find the tumor from which it started. She came to me for an examination, I did everything I could on the ultrasound and found nothing. At that moment, I told myself that I’d better leave the ultrasound because I couldn’t properly diagnose my own mother. I went for an examination, an MRI, a CT scan and, surprisingly, no one found anything there either. I even went to the hospital to make sure the sample taken at the lab was hers and not spoiled. The analyzed formation indicated progressive cancer, the mother underwent surgery, then chemotherapy and radiation therapy three times. Now, 20 years later, she is fine, healthy, 87 years old, and I file the story in the miracle section because even now I don’t know what happened. Was it my limit and other doctors? Were there device limitations? Not known!”

The first in medicine

Besides the daily professional satisfaction of a correct diagnosis, which can sometimes stop invasive investigations or even unnecessary surgeries, Dr. Lungu also has other academic satisfactions due to some innovations or firsts in the field of medicine.

In the 90s, he was the first doctor in Romania to speak at a national congress about a new type of ultrasound called harmonic imaging. In the 2000s, he was the first in the country to conduct laparoscopic ultrasound (during laparoscopic operations), about which he and a colleague wrote an article and later a book.

In 2015, he brought to Romania a technique he had learned in China, the destruction of tumors with the help of ultrasound rays. The device was also purchased from China, by a private clinic. A year later, for the first time in the country, he began to conduct the so-called ecotherapy, that is, the burning of benign nodes of the thyroid gland and mammary gland. In more than 4 years, he cured several hundred patients with this method, which is now widely used, especially for the treatment of veins.

At the end of the day, Dr. Cornel Lungu recharges his batteries in the bosom of his family with his wife, who is also a doctor, and his Labrador, Bruno, who is a great lover of nature. The doctor’s daughter is an economist in Ethiopia, and the boy is a doctor in Germany. He wishes they were both closer, but he accepts their decisions and is glad they are doing well. When the children were young, Dr. Lungu had the opportunity to work abroad, initially for six months a year. Although he smiled at the idea, because even then he could have practiced medicine at a different level in a country with a much more developed system, he turned down the chance for the sake of his family. The boy, who was a high school student at the time, asked him, “You mean I don’t have a father for six months a year?” — and this answer forced the doctor to continue his career in Romania, together with his family.

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The article is part of the “You know a good doctor” campaign, a MedLife initiative that aims to portray the doctors who make Romania good every day, building a better tomorrow. In Romania, there are thousands, maybe tens of thousands of good doctors who, in addition to talent, vocation, experience, intuition and skills, are first of all PEOPLE.

MedLife doctors are not only good professionals, but also good people who care and love people. Doctors for whom taking care of their health is more than a profession, it is a vocation.

“Do you know a good doctor?”, a MedLife campaign aimed at restoring trust in Romania.