House Diagnosis Diary: Season 5

[Photo: © 2009 FOX Broadcasting Co.]

Here are the medical diagnoses of note from season 5 of House:

• “Dying Changes Everything”
  Diffuse lepromatous leprosy – Also known as “pretty” leprosy, makes the skin look younger, smoother.
• “Not Cancer”
  Cancer stem cells – Resembled local cells.
• “Adverse Events”
  Interaction of multiple experimental drugs taken in pill form, which were intermittently absorbed and released by a bezoar, a mass of undigested food in the stomach.
• “Birthmarks”
  Pins in the brain left from an attempted infanticide.
• “Lucky Thirteen”
  Sjogren’s syndrome – An autoimmune disorder that attacks the exocrine glands (which produce tears and sweat), affecting multiple organs.
• “Joy”
  Familial Mediterranean fever – An inherited inflammatory disorder, originating from people in areas around the Mediterranean sea.
• “The Itch”
  Lead poisoning – Due to an old bullet wound.
• “Emancipation”
  Acute promyelocytic leukemia – A type of cancer of the blood and bone marrow; complicated by suspected arsenic poisoning from pressure-treated wood.
• “Last Resort”
  Melioidosis – An infectious disease caused by a type of bacteria that can be found in tropical regions.
• “Let Them Eat Cake”
  Coproporphyria – An inherited genetic disorder; complicated by low-carbohydrate diet.
• “Joy To The World”
  Eclampsia – A life-threatening complication of pregnancy, which occurred after delivery of the baby from hidden pregnancy and abandoned infant.
• “Painless”
  Epilepsy – Causes various forms of seizures, which spread to sensory region of the brain, causing extreme pain.
• “Big Baby”
  Patent ductus arteriosis – An artery that bypasses the lungs before birth and closes upon first breath, which failed to close; complicated by intermittent high blood pressure.
• “The Greater Good” (Episode 100)
  Endometrial cells accidentally spread through body due to prior surgery, which “menstruated,” or bled, during menstrual cycle.