Also known as: Schizoaffective disorder
A floridly psychotic woman hearing voices (including deceased mother and Princess Diana) who went off her medications. She becomes violent in the ER, bites Dr. Benton, and is ultimately admitted to psychiatric hospital, separating her from her young son.
Also known as: Heart attack
A patient brought in with chest pain who suffers a heart attack in the ER. He's stabilized with lidocaine after developing dangerous heart rhythm abnormalities. The case is complicated by his wife discovering evidence of an affair.
Also known as: Defibrillator malfunction
An elderly woman with history of two heart attacks and an implanted defibrillator comes in with chest pain. Her defibrillator begins firing inappropriately, shocking her repeatedly when she's not having arrhythmias. Cardiology is called to address the malfunctioning device.
Also known as: Inflamed appendix
An elderly woman with leg pain is initially misdiagnosed as having arthritis. Carter persists and discovers she has a retrocecal (abnormally positioned) appendix that has perforated. Benton criticizes Susan Lewis for missing the surgical emergency, and the patient goes to emergency surgery.
Also known as: Major injuries from car accident
A teenage hit-and-run victim found in full cardiac arrest with massive injuries including skull fracture, neck fracture, collapsed lung with bleeding, and ruptured diaphragm. Despite aggressive resuscitation efforts, he dies. Carter initially misidentifies him and has to inform the wrong parents, then later delivers the death notification correctly to the actual parents.
Also known as: IBS
A high-stress copier salesman with chronic stabbing abdominal pain, constipation, and occasional rectal bleeding. Susan evaluates him for ulcerative colitis but concludes it's irritable bowel syndrome exacerbated by his stressful lifestyle. She advises dietary changes and stress reduction.
Also known as: DVT
An elderly woman with recent colon cancer history and a long plane flight presents with leg pain. Carter works up the case noting two elements of Virchow's Triad are present (hypercoagulability from cancer, stasis from plane flight), suggesting DVT as the likely diagnosis.
Also known as: Childbirth
A woman arrives in active labor with baby crowning. Carter delivers the baby girl in the ER hallway, managing a nuchal cord (cord around neck). The delivery goes well and provides Carter with a positive moment after a difficult day.