Comments on: House – Episode 16 (Season Three): “Top Secret”

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Fri, 26 Nov 2010 19:31:22 +0000

I came here looking for answer to the same question willem kompaan wrote:

What happened to the magically appearing and disappearing brain tumors?

I replayed the episode but they never mentioned it anymore. This was the most curious part for me and nothing ever came of such an interesting twist.

By: Sally

Sally — Sat, 30 Oct 2010 17:16:03 +0000

I have HHT, and I see a lot of people questioning the AVMs in the lungs that he had. Because of HHT, the AVMs allow blood to pass through the blood vessels faster than usual, not allowing the heart and lungs to get all of the oxygen needed from the blood. This can be seen by a bubble echocardiogram where they shake up saline and insert it through an IV. They watch your heart and lungs filter the bubbly saline. Bubbles should show up on one side of the heart but not the other. If they show up on the wrong side of the heart, an AVM is present and is preventing the bubbles to be filtered. I have an AVM that is being watched to see when it is fixable (3mm wide). A 10 year old boy passed away because he had thousands of lung AVMs that prevented him to get the proper amount of oxygen and he actually suffocated to death.

HHT is a blood vessel disorder that is very rare and can cause anything from simple bloody noses to heart failure.

By: Rebecca

Rebecca — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 01:09:52 +0000

Wow, major points going to House here for the mention of Leicester University (where I’m studying medicine). I feel proud :)

By: anonymous

anonymous — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 04:00:38 +0000

the lung “filters” clots from the blood. presumably the microclots contain bacteria, which traveled to the joints to cause inflammation.

By: Chetoos

Chetoos — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 16:04:36 +0000

My take on the joint pain caused by the AVM in the lungs, and I have never been to medical school, nor pretend to be a doctor, so I may very possibly be wrong, is that the CO2 filled blood from the vein mixed with the O2 blood from the artery, which caused small necrosis in the extremities, such as fingers and joints, which caused the pain, as well as the black dots.
Again, Im not a doctor, I dont pretend to be, and I am quite possibly wrong. also, if someone has mentioned this before me, Im sorry, I didnt read through the full list of comments.

By: Dana

Dana — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 15:52:39 +0000

WoW! This is cool! The only thing I have to add, and it may have already been said, is that the dirty blood comes from a lack of capillaries. No capillaries, no ability to clean and oxegenate the blood… I have HHT. It sucks sometimes! LOL! Love this post!

By: Balok

Balok — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 08:27:48 +0000

The local TV station showed a rerun of this episode last night. For some reason, I had missed the beginning and end the first time around. I’m in the “House’s dream was okay” camp — it wasn’t mystical, it was just his brain’s way of integrating all of the clues he’d picked up but was too distracted to notice consciously.

As for the Cuddy/House thing, I thought that it was established in one of the earlier seasons that they knew each other (and may have been involved) when they were in medical school.

On another subject — and on the unlikely chance that someone reads these things years after the original broadcast — what is House going to do if the FDA bans vicodin, as they are threatening to do?

By: Flyndaran

Flyndaran — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 06:28:45 +0000

Interesting how hard it is to search for legitimate internet sources on gulf war syndrome. Most don’t convince very well and look like something my hypochondriac aunt would write.

Funny that among the 4 diseases listed as being statistically more common among gulf war veterans is Fibromyalgia another “controversial” diagnosis

By: frogette

frogette — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 03:29:21 +0000

It’s funny, I completely forgot about this site until I saw this same episode again tonight. Since no one bothered to answer me since 2007, I assume Foreman’s outlandish remark really meant what I thought it meant (’the French suck bwahahaha”) . Hopefully I’m wrong and there is some cultural allusion I’m not aware of, or it’s somehow related to the plot that I didn’t get. But as I’m naturally pessimistic, let me just stress that French medical schools are highly competitive and that the medical education received by French students is in no way inferior to the one received by their US counterparts. I’m from a family counting several GPs including my own father, and I find this line gratuitously insulting. Had it been said by provocative and mysanthropic House, it would be understandable and in character; said by Foreman it’s out of character and just plain stupid. Not that anyone here cares, but anyway, I feel better with it off my chest (gallic shrug).

By: sychophont

sychophont — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 05:17:49 +0000

What I find interesting is that nobody mentions how Uranium was detected at all. Unlike Plutonium, which the body actually ‘prefers’ over calcium, Uranium neither easily absorbed nor retained by the body and even a trace amount in urine is abnormal. Unless the ’super-test’ was fraudulent it’s highly likely that the patient has had fairly significant exposure.

Uranium is pyrophoric, brittle, and readily produces fine powder when broken. These are known issues with the substance, but the military insists on using it in tank armor because they have this crazy notion that exposure to Uranium dust is far less of a health risk than exposure to explosions. In the first gulf war it was used in anti-armor munitions, as density is useful for both stopping ballistics AND keeping them going. Unfortunately, there are a few known people who have high levels of Uranium in their lungs and are suffering various health issues as a result.

Given his background I believe he was most likely exposed to damaged tank armor on multiple occasions. The most reasonable explanation as to the presence of Uranium in his urine is that he inhaled Uranium dust and that it is slowly finding it’s way into his bloodstream from there. Although unrelated to the issue at hand, it would have been in the patient’s best interests to refer him to a pulmonary specialist to confirm exposure and, if confirmed, to either treat it or note the issue as a risk factor and keep tabs on it.