Also known as: Eye socket fracture
Patient sustained an orbital fracture from a car accident where his face went into the windshield. House examines him and discovers additional complications beyond the initial injury.
Initially suspected diagnosis in the patient with Cullen's sign and abdominal bruising. The presence of air in the abdomen (pneumoperitoneum) alongside blood suggested additional complications beyond simple hemorrhagic pancreatitis.
Also known as: Hole in stomach
Final diagnosis explaining the air and blood in the abdomen. Required laparotomy to find and repair the perforation in the patient's gastrointestinal tract.
Also known as: Drug overdose
Patient experienced respiratory distress due to heroin use. House administered naloxone to reverse the opioid effects. The patient is a former stockbroker who became addicted to heroin after a ski injury.
Also known as: Earring aspiration
Patient inhaled a small branch while passed out. His suppressed cough reflex from drug use prevented him from expelling it, leading to an autoimmune reaction that House identified as 'the root of all his problems.'
Also known as: ALS, Lou Gehrig's disease
Initially suspected diagnosis based on thenar eminence twitch and muscle thinning in the patient. Later ruled out when House discovered the true cause was a foreign body aspiration.
Also known as: Terminal cancer
Wilson is dying from cancer with approximately five months to live. This is the central emotional driver of the episode and House's motivation for his actions throughout, including faking his own death to spend Wilson's remaining time with him.
Also known as: Heroin addiction
House's chronic Vicodin addiction is referenced throughout the episode as he contemplates his future and considers heroin use as an escape while facing imprisonment and Wilson's death.