Old episode of “House”

[Sarah Tee]

I was idly watching an old episode of “House” before bed … they just diagnosed someone with POTS … although it’s only halfway through the episode so they are bound to find out it’s something else.p in the end.

Unfortunately, they said the patient had a heart attack because of POTS. Sigh. Plus he looks really healthy, is an adult male, and had no trouble standing still while chatting to someone waiting for a taxi for several minutes earlier in the episode. Also I think he only just got sick, so can’t meet the 3 or 6 month duration criteria.

Oh well, at least they are giving him fludrocortisone.

[MikeO]

1 hour ago, Sarah Tee said:

Unfortunately, they said the patient had a heart attack because of POTS. Sigh.

Not sure how accurate this is unless the patient had some other underlying cardiac issue. You did motivate me to find the episode. I would love to watch it. 

[Sarah Tee]

@MikeO, it's this one:

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1503403/

They only "diagnose" POTS for about five minutes of the episode so it might not be that interesting.

The patient's heart attack is stated to have been caused by POTS, not any underlying cardiac condition, unfortunately.

On the plus side, in another episode, they considered and ruled out autonomic dysfunction in a fairly sensible way during a differential diagnosis scene.

I just remembered that on another forum I used to visit people would occasionally pop up asking "Can POTS cause a heart attack?" and would (slightly shamefacedly) admit that they were worried because of seeing this episode of "House".

In the UK, there is a requirement that medical dramas must be accurate in portraying illnesses and medical procedures. (I don't know how well they actually manage to follow that rule - I am sure mistakes happen. And I don't know what punishment, if any, applies if they get it wrong.)

I wonder if there is a similar rule in the US?

[Sarah Tee]

I just realised what was bothering me about this series – there are almost never any nurses in evidence. In real life, nurses are in and out of patients' rooms all the time, at a minimum taking obs, and, with quite sick patients, they'd be helping them to eat, take medication, go to the loo or manage catheters or bedpans, taking instructions from the doctors, etc.

And yet every dramatic scene between the doctors and patients is uninterrupted.

Oh, and you never see a cleaner or a porter either (unless for some plot point).

[MikeO]

1 hour ago, Sarah Tee said:

I wonder if there is a similar rule in the US?

Hi Sarah Tee thank you for the link i will watch the episode. I not sure if there is a similar rule in the US (never really thought about it).

1 hour ago, Sarah Tee said:

I just realised what was bothering me about this series – there are almost never any nurses in evidence. In real life, nurses are in and out of patients' rooms all the time, at a minimum taking obs, and, with quite sick patients, they'd be helping them to eat, take medication, go to the loo or manage catheters or bedpans, taking instructions from the doctors, etc.

And yet every dramatic scene between the doctors and patients is uninterrupted.

Oh, and you never see a cleaner or a porter either (unless for some plot point).

You are spot on with this one. My procedure last May i was a bit overwhelmed with all the fussing that went on and having multiple folks popping in all the time.  

[Pistol]

@Sarah Tee this thread is so funny to me, and you are spot-on with your observations about nurses! Before getting sick I was an RN in a hospital and whenever I watch hospital shows I cringe, because they are NEVER like the real deal. And as far as I know POTS does NOT cause heart attacks, unless the Film studio sponsored a brand new study ...?