Also known as: Enlarged heart muscle disease
Adaku, a pregnant woman with pre-existing dilated cardiomyopathy, goes into early labor at 35 weeks. Her mitral valve fails catastrophically during labor, causing cardiac arrest. She requires emergency C-section and open-heart surgery with valve replacement on cardiopulmonary bypass.
Also known as: Early labor
Adaku goes into labor five weeks early while shopping for baby furniture. The stress of preterm labor combined with her cardiac condition leads to acute decompensation requiring emergency delivery.
Also known as: Leaky heart valve
Adaku's mitral valve progressively fails during labor, with acute worsening when a chord ruptures, causing wide-open regurgitation, pulmonary edema, and cardiac arrest requiring emergency valve replacement.
Also known as: Liver failure
Tyler, a teenage football player, presents after overdose of acetaminophen and sleeping pills in a suicide attempt. He develops fulminant hepatic failure requiring emergency liver transplant. The doctors conceal his suicidal intent from the transplant board to ensure his eligibility.
Also known as: Tylenol poisoning
Tyler intentionally overdoses on acetaminophen (Tylenol) and sleeping pills in a suicide attempt after being cut from the football team, breaking up with his girlfriend, and his parents' divorce announcement. This causes acute liver failure.
Also known as: Suicide attempt
Tyler admits to attempting suicide impulsively after multiple life stressors. The doctors hide this from the transplant board to ensure he remains eligible for liver transplant, as Chastain's policy disqualifies suicidal patients from receiving organs.
Also known as: Brain swelling
An 89-year-old man with advanced dementia develops worsening brain swelling during surgery for a hip fracture. Dr. Cain aggressively treats the complication despite the patient's poor prognosis, condemning him to a vegetative state on life support.
An 89-year-old surgical patient had advanced dementia prior to his fall and surgery. Dr. Voss questions the ethics of aggressive intervention given his baseline cognitive state and surgical complications.
Also known as: Coma
Dawn remains in a coma on a ventilator weeks after the Mother of All Surgeries. Dr. Cain transfers her to a long-term acute care facility to game the system and keep her alive past 90 days so her poor outcome won't negatively affect his surgical statistics.
Also known as: Collapsed lung in newborn
Adaku's premature baby is delivered by emergency C-section while Adaku is in cardiac arrest. The baby initially doesn't breathe and requires resuscitation with bag ventilation, chest compressions, and epinephrine before stabilizing.