There were 24 episodes in season three, many with more than one patient. One Day, One Room was excluded to leave 23. House was not present for Airborne, and Chase was absent for most of Human Error.
Patients treated: 29 Lives saved: 26 There were two patients each in Meaning, Fools For Love, Half-Wit counting the patient whose records House stole, Fetal Position, Act Your Age, and Family. In Informed Consent and Que Sera Serathe patients died because their illnesses were incurable, and in House Training the team killed the patient by misdiagnosing her.
My conclusions: Over three seasons the Department of Diagnostic Medicine treated 80 patients and saved the lives of 68 of them. Everyone had more credits in the third season, which I think has more to do with me than with the show. Even taking that into account, all of the Housepets improved this season. Chase grew the most this season, developing his observational skills and making the same intuitive leaps that House does to come up with diagnoses. Both Cameron and Foreman contributed more to the diagnostic process, but Foreman's error rate increased. As in season two, Cameron and Foreman appear to be equal in their performance with Chase proving to be the best diagnostician of the three. It's not a large lead, but it is definitely there.
Initial Symptoms: Woman with fatigue + pain + kidney problems + double vision Diagnosis: Third ostium (extra hole between left and right sides of heart) (House)
Contributions by Team House (3): Idea to separate husband's symptoms from wife's after they had been in a boat accident, idea to look at patient's heart, diagnosis for congenital heart defect Chase (1): Spots blood clot in humerus bone Cameron (0): None Foreman (0): None
Notes: Chase was fired approximately one-quarter of the way into the episode.
Initial Symptoms: Boy with severe headache + violent behaviour Diagnosis: Hemochromatosis (Cameron)
Contributions by Team House (2): Notices patient's bones are malformed, realizes illness is hemochromatosis Chase (1): Identifies liver failure Cameron (3): Suggests pain in other parts of patient's body is a symptom, diagnosis for hemochromatosis, notices hypogonadism Foreman (1): Says personality is not a symptom
Notes: Cameron's suggestion of hemochromatosis was rejected by House because it didn't explain the patient's antisocial behaviour, which the team believed was a symptom. House came to the conclusion later by correctly judging that the patient's personality wasn't caused by his illness, for which he was given a credit. Foreman was correct that the patient had a partial HPRT (hypoxanthine-guanine phosphoribosyltransferase) enzyme deficiency, but this did not affect him so Foreman receives no credit for it. Foreman received an error for ignoring the patient when he said he had pain in his fingers, which would later prove to be a crucial symptom, and Chase an error for wrongly telling the patient's mother that his illness caused his personality problems. I debated the last one, but in the end decided that it had to be counted. Like Cameron's failures to tell patients that they're dying, it's not part of the diagnostic process but is part of patient care.
Initial Symptoms: Woman coughing blood Diagnosis: Bridge between vein and artery in GI tract (House) + infection (House) + depression/suicide attempt (House)
Contributions by Team House (3): Diagnosis for infection, diagnosis for suicide attempt, diagnosis for hole/bridge in GI tract Chase (1): Points out goose bumps as symptom Cameron (2): Suggests GI bleed, points out diarrhea as symptom Foreman (1): Identifies pleural effusion (says "pressure")
Notes: I'm assuming that the goose bumps and diarrhea were indeed symptoms.
The patient was a boy who needed to have his infection diagnosed and treated so he could donate bone marrow to his leukemia-stricken brother. While this analysis covers only one brother, in the final tally it counts as two patients.
Initial Symptoms: Boy with a sneeze + fever + enlarged spleen Diagnosis: Histoplasmosis (Wilson+Foreman)
Contributions by Team House (2): Idea to make patient sicker to diagnose him, idea to stop medication to figure out if it's infection that is suppressing bone marrow production Chase (1): Sees elevated enzymes, leading to discovery of a fibrous growth in mitral valve Cameron (0): None Foreman (4): Insists on continuing testing for infections, idea to check home for source of infection, diagnosis for histoplasmosis, idea to do bone marrow transplant anyway
Notes: Wilson realized the growth in the patient's mitral valve was fibrous; I'm not sure if this was caused by the fungal infection or not, but it was implied so for this diagnosis I assumed it was. Wilson pointed out that the patient's family shouldn't have a water pump in their backyard, leading Foreman to test for farm-related diseases. Therefore they shared the histoplasmosis diagnosis. The 4/6 bone marrow transplant didn't seem to buy the leukemia patient time for a proper diagnosis, but did almost kill him. Foreman received an error as a result. Foreman's idea to perform the bone marrow transplant after the diagnosis, while horrible in its execution, did save the life of the patient's brother after every other doctor had given up on him.
Initial Symptoms: Woman with abulia Diagnosis:Staphylococcus aureus endocarditis
Contributions by Team House (1): Post-mortem diagnosis for Staphylococcus heart infection Chase (1): Suggests infection Cameron (1): Suggests bubble study, which would have shown the correct diagnosis Foreman (1): Says TIA (transient ischemic attack) caused abulia
Notes: No diagnosis is awarded in this case because it came after the fatal radiation treatment. Both Foreman and House received errors for performing the radiation treatment, Foreman for advocating it and House for approving it. As House once said, mistakes are as serious as their consequences and in this case the team killed their patient.
The patient's brother suffered from the same illness, and his symptoms and eventual diagnosis are combined here with hers.
Initial Symptoms: Girl with restrictive pericarditis Diagnosis: Precocious puberty (Foreman) induced by contact with testosterone cream (House)
Contributions by Team House (3): Idea to bleed patient to prevent blood clots, realizes the patient’s brother has the same illness, diagnosis for exposure to testosterone cream Chase (1): Notes hemocrits are elevated Cameron (1): Realizes problem is environmental Foreman (1): Diagnosis for precocious puberty
Notes: Foreman diagnosed the patient's condition by testing the blood on her clothing and finding that it was menstrual blood.
House and Cuddy were by themselves dealing with what appeared to be a meningitis epidemic on a plane. House diagnosed one patient with decompression sickness, better known as the bends, and multiple patients with mass hysteria (partially caused by Cuddy!). Back in Princeton Wilson lead the Housepets. This analysis will cover their patient only.
Contributions by Team House (N/A): House was not present for this case Chase (2): Realizes that the cat's lack of appetite was a symptom, diagnosis for methyl bromide poisoning Cameron (0): None Foreman (1): Suggests checking the patient's home for an environmental cause
Contributions by Team House (1): Diagnosis for maternal mirror syndrome Chase (0): None Cameron (0): None Foreman (0): None
Notes: House was correct about the patient having mitral valve stenosis, but it was not causing her symptoms and Camerons said it was so mild it would never have affected her at all. House doesn't get credit as a result.
Contributions by Team House (4): Idea to paralyse fetus and perform MRI, knows that three taps are necessary on bladder, diagnosis for CCAM, idea to operate on fetus Chase (1): Idea to operate on fetus Cameron (1): Sees that lungs aren't developing Foreman (1): Suggests that lungs are the problem
Notes: Cuddy also speeds up the fetal lung development with corticosteroids, and has the idea to perform a transjugular hepatic biopsy. Chase commented that surgery would be the last alternative to diagnose a real person, not intending to suggest that they operate on the fetus, and from there House proceeded to do exactly that. They were both awarded credit for the idea as a result.
Initial Symptoms: Man with Gulf War Syndrome symptoms Diagnosis: Hereditary hemmorrhagic telangiectasia (House)
Contributions by Team House (3): Realizes patient has brain infection instead of tumors, knows depleted uranium is irrelevant, diagnosis for hereditary hemmorrhagic telangiectasia Chase (0): None Cameron (0): None Foreman (0): None
Notes: Chase was correct in his suggestion that the patient had been exposed to depleted uranium, but receives no credit because it was medically irrelevant.
The Housepets worked more on treating House for his fake cancer than they did on diagnosing their real patient. Because all of the team, House included, studied Luke N. Laura's case, I counted it as a separate diagnosis. Two patients were diagnosed in this episode as a result.
Official Patient Initial Symptoms: Man with brain damage + dystonia (muscle contractions) Diagnosis: Takayasu's arteritis (Chase+Foreman)
Contributions by Team House (5): Realizes patient can create music as well as play it, spots increase in heart rate, predicts bleed below kidney, proves patient still has activity in "dead" part of brain, suggests hemispherectomy to stop seizures and improve brain function Chase (1): Diagnosis for Takayasu's arteritis Cameron (2): Realizes problem is that seizures are getting worse, suggests bleeding in the brain Foreman (5): Knows that listening and playing are different neurological processes, realizes heart problem didn't cause dystonia, realizes patient's brain is getting worse, suggests intercranial EEG, diagnosis for Takayasu's arteritis
Notes: Chase suggested an auto-immune disease. The team then worked on confirming this, and ultimately Foreman narrowed it down to Takayasu's arteritis.
Alleged Cancer Patient Initial Symptoms: Patient with mass in dorsal midbrain Diagnosis: Gumma from neurosyphilis (Chase)
Contributions by Team House (0): None Chase (2): Tests "House" for protein PHF, diagnosis for gumma Cameron (0): None Foreman (1): Recognizes position of mass and its implications
Initial Symptoms: Girl with Chronic Insensitivity to Pain (CIPA) + car accident injuries + fever Diagnosis: Tapeworm in the gut (House)
Contributions by Team House (4): Noticed patient had CIPA, idea to biopsy nerves, realizes patient has B12 deficiency, diagnosis for tapeworm Chase (1): Idea to induce pain in patient Cameron (1): Realizes patient's symptoms were caused by treatment Foreman (1): Realizes patient's pain is emotional
Notes: I was tempted to give House an error for insisting on biopsying the patient's spinal nerves for his own purposes, before he even knew she was sick, but I didn't because he didn't actually do it. Besides, without House insisting on all those tests they wouldn't have found the tapeworm at all. Biopsying another nerve was diagnostically necessary and revealed important information, so he still received credit.
Initial Symptoms: Boy with bloody pleural effusion Diagnosis: Swallowed toothpick which punctured multiple organs (House)
Contributions by Team House (2): Thinks patient has "a mass" in his liver blocking the hepatic vein, diagnosis for finding toothpick in colon Chase (0): None Cameron (0): None Foreman (0): None
Notes: The toothpick was found while directly examining the patient's colon; everyone mistook scar tissue for a granuloma on the scans. House ordered the colonoscopy, so he gets the diagnosis even though he had no idea what the Housepets would find.
While House saw several clinic patients and Cameron watched a homeless man die of cancer, the Housepets did not treat or diagnose a patient in this episode.
Initial Symptoms: Man with shortness of breath + altered mental status + chills Diagnosis: Male menopause (House) + broken heart syndrome (Cameron) + spinal meningioma (House)
Contributions by Team House (4): Spots arrhythmia on EKG and suggests heart attack, diagnosis for male menopause, suggests environmental cause for heart attacks (the woman the patient loves), diagnosis for spinal meningioma Chase (2): Suggests patient is hiding his chest pain, realizes patient is having a heart attack Cameron (1): Diagnosis for broken heart syndrome Foreman (2): Suggests a brain tumour (twice), runs MRI on patient
Notes: The broken heart syndrome was caused by the tumour, since the tumour created the false memories that seem to be responsible, but is credited as a separate diagnosis. House was assigned an error for ignoring the abnormal EKG at the beginning of the episode. He also received an error for giving the patient electroshock therapy to wipe his memories. He should have gotten more confirmation of the diagnosis or considered other treatments before resorting to essentially killing the patient. The symptom of the patient's memories being false was missed, but who missed it? My first reaction was to say Cameron, but she wasn't the only doctor treating the patient. I've concluded that the entire team is guilty of that one, so Cameron isn't given an error for it. Foreman was given credit for performing the MRI on the patient because it seemed to have been his idea, but this wasn't completely clear. It wasn't House's idea.
Contributions by Team House (5): Idea to do gallium scan, sees that liver is shutting down, knows that illness is widespread and will hit pancreas next, diagnosis for LCH, realizes that patient isn't a dwarf and the LCH caused her stunted growth Chase (2): Points out that ear infections may be relevant, diagnosis for LCH Cameron (2): Knows why TB test wouldn't work on CHH dwarf, suggests illness is autoimmune Foreman (0): None
Notes: Langerhans cell histiocytosis caused the tumor, which in turn caused the growth problem. The tumor and growth deficiency were counted as one diagnosis, separate from the histiocytosis. House hit upon the LCH diagnosis unaware that Chase had suggested it earlier, so they both receive credit for it.
Contributions by Team House (1): Predicts gallstones Chase (3): Realizes shape of scratch test indicates allergy, suggests a primary blood disorder, diagnosis for erythropoietic porphyria Cameron (2): Suggests allergy, realizes patient gets sicker every time they treat her Foreman (1): Identifies blood clot in arm
Notes: Cuddy diagnoses the patient's anxiety attack and puts her under a shower to cool her down when she develops a fever. House received an error for ordering amputation of the patient's arm and leg without confirming that she really had an infection.
Initial Symptoms: Man with vomiting + heart attack Diagnosis: Chronic ganulomatous disease (House)
Contributions by Team House (6): Diagnoses hepatitis A based on itchy feet, knows that patient doesn't have toxins left in his system so they need to test his first vomit, realizes patient has osteomyelitis, realizes spots on MRI are fungus and not tumors, diagnosis for chronic ganulomatous disease, infects patient to diagnose which immune disorder he has Chase (2): Suggests a virus, diagnosed botulism Cameron (1): Diagnoses Eikenella Foreman (1): Diagnoses syphilis
Notes: The patient's multiple infections were treated as symptoms of the underlying immune disorder, which was the diagnosis.
Initial Symptoms: Man with akinetopsia + seizure Diagnosis: Liver failure from alcoholism (Cameron) + red ragged fiber disease (House)
Contributions by Team House (4): Notices akinetopsia, realizes illness is genetic, realizes that liver failure is due to medication + alcohol, diagnosis for red ragged fiber disease Chase (1): Realizes patient is an alcoholic Cameron (1): Diagnosis for liver failure Foreman (1): Realizes patient's problem is his heart and not his liver
Notes: What happened to the kidney failure? It was never explained. Cameron received credit for diagnosing the liver failure because she was the first to spot it, not through a clever deduction.
Initial Symptoms: Man with morbid obesity + coma Diagnosis: Lung cancer (House) + paraneoplastic syndrome (House)
Contributions by Team House (3): Notices loss of appetite, diagnosis for lung cancer, diagnosis for paraneoplastic syndrome Chase (1): Rules out lumbar puncture on patient Cameron (1): Idea to put only the patient's head in MRI Foreman (1): Idea to rule out MS from CSF sample
Notes: Chase received an error for deserting the team and the patient. Yes House told him to "sit on his ass", but completely leaving is not the same thing. It was clear that Chase did not want to treat the patient at all.
Contributions by Team House (3): Idea to take wife off steroids to rule out infection, realizes patients are brother and sister, diagnosis for angioedema Chase (1): Sees edema throughout wife's brain Cameron (1): Realizes illness isn't environmental Foreman (2): Diagnoses allergy to antibiotic, sees bowel isn't dead and says high lactic acid was from stress
Notes: The patient's husband became a patient himself when he fell ill too. The husband and wife's diagnoses were combined because they had the same illness and the team realized this during the differential diagnosis.
Initial Symptoms: Boy with severe autism + screaming Diagnosis: Pica (House) + raccoon roundworms (House)
Contributions by Team House (6): Suggests parasites, suggests problem is in lungs before pleural effusion occurs, gets patient to inhale gas, suggests liver is damaged, diagnosis for pica, diagnosis for raccoon roundworms Chase (3): Realized that elevated blood pressure + screaming indicated chest pain, suggests parasites, suggests illness is caused by something the patient ate Cameron (0): None Foreman (0): None
Notes: Pica caused the patient to eat sand, leading to the roundworms exposure. Since pica is a medical condition that can have serious health consequences, it is included it here as a separate diagnosis although it was the roundworms that caused the patient's symptoms. Foreman received an error for insisting the patient wasn't sick, since if he were the attending physician the patient wouldn't have been diagnosed and treated.
Initial Symptoms: Man with respiratory distress Diagnosis: Amyloid A (AA) amyloidosis (Chase)
Contributions by Team House (5): Tells Cameron to remove fluid from lungs, injects patient with epinephrine to test heart, notices lung scarring on MRI, notices nerve damage in right side, confirms amyloidosis Chase (2): Diagnosis for amyloidosis, insists problem is in the heart and not the lungs Cameron (0): None Foreman (0): None
Notes: House should have ordered an echocardiogram and not an exercise stress EKG. Since this was never mentioned in the episode, it's assumed that it was a mistake by the writers and not the character and House doesn't receive an error for it. Chase received an error for collapsing the patient's lungs during a lung biopsy. I'd like to give Cameron a credit for fulfilling House's promise to euthanize the patient, but since killing your patients isn't considered part of medical care in New Jersey it wouldn't be appropriate. (No, I'm not being sarcastic).
Initial Symptoms: Boy with hallucinations + rectal bleeding Diagnosis: Chimerism causing abnormal cells in the heart, bone marrow and brain (House)
Contributions by Team House (6): Suggests patient has a bleeding disorder, spots section of myocardium not beating, idea to inject antibody tag into brain-blood barrier, realizes that tag won't work on brain cells, diagnosis for chimerism, idea to induce hallucination to find and remove foreign cells from brain Chase (2): Analyzes DNA from heart and patient and sees they don't match, idea to cut out foreign tissue Cameron (3): Suggests testing clotting factors, realizes that hypertension activated patient's clotting factors, idea to tag foreign DNA with an antibody Foreman (1): Insists hallucinations are being caused by problem in the brain
Notes: House received an error for wanting to send the patient home, even though it was because he was having a crisis of confidence rather than poor medical judgment. If Wilson and Cuddy were part of this analysis... let's not go there.
House has contradicted what he said about his leg damage in Three Stories and now has full leg function back! He's feeling so good he's taking on two cases:
Yoga Girl Initial Symptoms: Woman with paralysis but no spinal trauma Diagnosis: Scurvy (House)
Contributions by Team House (3): Proves patient isn't really paralyzed, realizes patient has cardiac tamponade, diagnosis for scurvy Chase (0): None Cameron (0): None Foreman (0): None
Wheelchair Guy Initial Symptoms: Man in vegetative state after treatment for astrocytoma Diagnosis: Addison's disease (House) caused by hypothalamic dysregulation resulting from scarring from brain surgery (House)
Contributions by Team House (4): Realizes patient's throat muscle response is due to problem in his brain, diagnosis for hypothalamic dysregulation, diagnosis for Addison's disease, suggests cortisol to prove diagnosis Chase (2): Picks out fever + frequent urination as pattern, agrees to keep treating patient with re-scan of head Cameron (0): None Foreman (1): Recognizes dry eyes are a symptom
Notes: Chase probably agreed to continue treating the patient to please House and not because he thought it was the correct thing to do medically, but since it was he gets the credit. It doesn't seem fair but that is the criteria. I've assumed that the fever, frequent urination and dry eyes were indeed symptoms of Addison's disease.
Hello! I'm a simple fan who became interested in the professional dynamics of House's team. I'm not a fan of any particular Housepet, as I call them, so my reviews are as unbiased as I could make them. This was a surprisingly subjective task, however, so feel free to politely disagree with me.
Quotations, etc. Copyright Heel & Toe Productions, Bad Hat Harry Productions, et al.
Pictures from the show copyright Fox Broadcasting Corporation Questions, Comments (remember we are not related to the show): bewarne@housemd-guide.com
