Autopsy (House)

House (TV series) episode
episode_name = Autopsy
episode_no = HOU-202
airdate = September 20, 2005
writer = Lawrence Kaplow
director = Deran Sarafian
guest_star = Sasha Pieterse as Andie


season = 2
diagnosis = Thrombosis

Autopsy is the second episode of the second season of "House", which premiered on the FOX network on September 20, 2005. House and team struggle to diagnose a young girl whose cancer is not causing her more immediate symptoms.

Plot

House and his team struggle to find the cause of hallucinations that Andie is seeing. She is a 9-year-old girl with terminal cancer (alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma), but tests reveal that her cancer is in remission, meaning that the hallucinations are unrelated to her cancer. Meanwhile House questions Andie's motives for her bravery.

House discovers a cancerous tumor in her heart, which is surgically removed, but it does not account for the hallucinations. House deduces that there must be a clot which the cancer deployed prior to removal. He suggests performing an autopsy to discover the clot, which does not show on an angiography: cooling her body temperature down to 21 deg Celsius will make her clinically dead, then the doctors will remove 2-3 liters of blood and discover the clot when the blood is pumped back in. The blood removal and temperature can not be held for more than 60 seconds or she will suffer permanent damage. Wilson calls it a "lottery shot", but finding the clot will give her an additional year to live. Foreman finds the clot and the surgery is successful.

When House is toking up on his powdered antihistamines, Wilson comes and confronts House about the placement of the blood clot. House concedes he was wrong about Andie's bravery being a symptom of her clot, but replies to Wilson saying the girl is dead anyway. Wilson states that Andie could outlive him. When Andie is leaving, House refuses to hug her or kiss her as other staff members have, but she hugs him anyway.As House is leaving the hospital he stands and admires some motorcycles. He asks the salesman if he can take one for a test ride. The episode ends with House riding the motorcycle down a long stretch of empty road..

The song Andie sings with in the opening scene is Beautiful by Christina Aguilera.The aria Nessun Dorma is also featured in this episode, and In The Deep by Bird York (when the doctors operate on the little girl).

External links

* [http://www.fox.com/house/ FOX.com-"House" official site]
* [http://www.televisionwithoutpity.com/Shows/House/Stories/Autopsy/ Television Without Pity-"House" recaps]
* [http://epguides.com/House/ House Episode Guide at epguides.com]
* [http://www.tvguide.com/tvshows/house/100213/ TVGuide's Page: Full list of House Episodes]
* [http://www.housemd-guide.com/ House M.D. Guide]
* [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0412142/ "House M.D." IMDB Profile]
* [http://politedissent.com/archives/914 Medical Reviews of House: Autopsy]
* [http://www.housemd-guide.com/season2/autopsy-aria.php/ Interpretation of the music in the episode "Autopsy"]