My Father, Dr. Zhong-Wei Chen

Figure 1 Zhong-Wei Chen, M.D.

My father was born in Ning Pou, China on October 1, 1929. He was the only son in a large family. His father was the founder of one of the earliest western medicine hospitals in their town, and his mother was a pharmacist. This medical environment nurtured his childhood. Growing up as a privileged child with seven sisters, he had a great opportunity to satisfy all of his curiosity. When his playmates were busy watching ants, he could tell the difference between leukocyte and red blood cells under the microscope. With help from his father, he knew what the central nervous system was, and the locations of the heart and liver.

In high school, my father had a strong competitive and enterprising spirit. He liked to take on any challenge, which was evidenced by his athletic accomplishments as a javelin champion. He had lofty aspirations even when he was young. An ancient Chinese philosopher once said, “If you are not able to become a good politician, you should be a good physician.” The good politician was supposed to maintain law and order in the country, and the good doctor was supposed to cure sickness and save patients' lives. My father did not want to become a politician, but rather dreamed of becoming a great surgeon.

In 1948, he passed the entrance examination and was admitted to the Shanghai Tongde Medical College, a German-funded medical school, which merged with the Shanghai Second Medical College several years later. In his junior year, he was extremely interested in anatomy. He did a great number of cadaver dissections, ten times more than other students did. The influence of cadaver dissections on his career was profound.

After graduating from medical school in 1954, my father matched in the orthopedic surgery program at the Shanghai Lister Hospital, and was trained by Dr. Yan Qing Ye, one of the founders of modern Chinese orthopedic surgery. After completing his training, he was appointed to establish a Department of Orthopedics at Shanghai Sixth People's Hospital. In 1963, he and his coworkers successfully performed replantation surgery on a patient who suffered an amputation of the hand at the level above the wrist. This was the first case of extremity replantation reported in the medical literature. His accomplishment was recognized and he was congratulated by China's eminent Prime Minister, Zhou-En Lai. In 1966, my father successfully replanted an amputated finger and, in the same year, also performed the first case of arm replantation after segmental resection of a low-grade malignant tumor. By 1983, his group had carried out more than 1000 replantations of various types of severance of limbs and digits.

Known as a consummate technician, he was recognized as the authoritative figure in replantation surgery in the world. In 1972, as one of a Chinese delegation of microsurgeons, he was invited to visit North America. This opened the gates to Chinese-American medical exchanges previously shut by political circumstances. In 1978, he was honored as the “father of replantaion” at the International Hand Surgery Conference in Rotterdam.

During the 1960s and 1970s, the Cultural Revolution devastated China. My father was forced to work on a farm because of his family's background: they were believed to have been bourgeoisie before the Communist Revolution in 1949. With the help and concern of Prime Minister Zhou-En Lai, he finally escaped the disaster of imprisonment. However, this 10-year catastrophe did not stop his dream. When he was allowed back to work, he immediately restarted the pursuit of his career. He first used (1975) a microsurgical muscle flap for functional restoration. A microsurgical pectoralis major muscle flap was used to reconstruct the function of forearm flexor muscles with Volkman's ischemic contracture. He was the first (1977) to treat congenital pseudarthrosis of the tibia with a vascularized fibular flap. He developed (1980) a thumb reconstruction technique using a free second-toe and a wrap-around flap from the big toe. He began (1981) the clinical application of vascularized nerve grafting for long-segment nerve loss with significant functional impairment in areas of extensive tissue injury, in which nerve grafts must be placed into scarred recipient beds. He developed (1982) the procedure of pedicled iliac-crest transfer, based on the deep circumflex iliac vessels, for the treatment of femoral-head aseptic necrosis and osteochondrosis in children.

In 1982, he was appointed the Chairman of the Department of Orthopedic Surgery at Zhong Shan Hospital, Shanghai Medical University (currently Fudan University School of Medicine). During this period at Zhong Shan Hospital, his professional life was extremely productive. He and his students accomplished prodigious achievements in research of microsurgical repair techniques, basic science, and development of instrumentation. These led to 125 publications in referenced journals, innumerable chapters, and 11 books, some of which were translated into English.

Based on his accomplishments, he was honored many times by prestigious surgical societies for his contributions to microsurgery. He was elected a founding member of the International Society of Reconstructive Microsurgery at the fifth annual meeting in Brazil (1979), and was recruited into the Chinese Academy of Science (1980), which is the highest academic authority in China. He was invited as Kazanjian Memorial Lecturer at New York University Medical Center (1983), and was the first Asian surgeon who was so honored. He served as President of the International Society of Reconstructive Microsurgery (1985), and was elected a member of the Third World Academy of Science (1986). In 1994, he received the Chinese National Qiu Shi Award as one of the top 10 scientists in Chinese history; this award was presented by Prime Minister Li Peng. My father was the only physician among the 10 who gained this highest honor. He was awarded the Millennium Award from the International Society of Reconstructive Microsurgery (1999), and was named outstanding scientist by the Journal of Long-Term Effects of Medical Implants (2003). He was also a Visiting professor in over 40 universities and programs in over 20 different countries. At the time of his death, he was the Honorary President of the Chinese Society for Reconstructive Microsurgery, Vice President of the National Society of Surgery of the Chinese Medical Association, and Chairman of the Chinese Society for Research in Rehabilitation of Neural Disability.

In addition to his enormous international reputation, my father was a great teacher. He served as a mentor for many surgeons, who will pave the way for future discoveries; he conducted international microsurgery training courses, and his fellows came from many countries. He had “fruit everywhere under heaven,” a Chinese idiom which describes how fruitful his teaching career was. His students have become the associate editor for the International Journal of Microsurgery, department chairmen, program directors, and directors of microsurgery research institutions. He always said, “Opportunity has a specific affinity for the well-prepared brain,” and those words have inspired countless young microsurgeons in China and the rest of the world.

My father's life was a success, not only professionally but personally. His professional contributions to the world brought pride to China but, as his daughter, I must celebrate his accomplishments as a father, husband, teacher, and friend. My brother and I could not have had a father who loved us more unconditionally. His 50 years of marriage to my mother were filled with love, mutual respect, and unceasing support. Among his thousands of students all over the world, I was one. Knowing personally how difficult it is to teach one's own children, I simply do not know how he could have taught me so well. One of his most memorable qualities was his enthusiasm as a cheerleader for the younger generation, not only for me but also for all of his students. He was very loyal to his friends - his friendships were solid and were founded on compassion and faith. It was a privilege and an honor to be his daughter and friend.

On March 23, 2004, the sun failed to rise. Learning the news of my father's passing made the world stop. Even now, I cannot accept this most tragic loss. The wonderful memories of my father will always live in my heart, and I will miss him forever.