The patient, a young woman, returns from China where she was searching for her biological parents. She collapses and is rushed to the hospital, where the doctors discover that she has a mysterious illness. The team, led by Dr. House, tries to diagnose the cause of her symptoms, which include vomiting blood, abdominal pain, and kidney failure.
After a series of tests and misdiagnoses, they discover that the patient has a rare condition called Advanced dilated cardiomyopathy, and a mass in her left atrium. However, the real cause of her illness is eventually revealed to be a pair of metal pins that were inserted into her brain as an infant, which were pressed into her brain's addiction center, causing her addiction. The pins were inserted by her biological parents, who tried to kill her as a baby due to China's one-child policy.
The team successfully removes the pins, and the patient is expected to make a full recovery.
Here are the key facts from the text:
1. A patient, who is a woman, has been vomiting blood and collapses during a trip to China.
2. Chinese surgeons cut out a foot of bowel, but the patient's pain worsens.
3. The patient has bags under her eyes, indicating she was up all night.
4. The patient's wife left him after he told her he had an affair.
5. The patient has a daughter who was adopted when her parents thought they couldn't have children.
6. The daughter has a medical condition that is causing her pain and other symptoms.
7. The doctors are trying to determine the cause of the daughter's symptoms.
8. The daughter had a trip to China to find her biological parents.
9. The biological parents denied her existence.
10. The doctors suspect that the daughter may have SARS.
11. SARS can cause hypoperfusion, which can lead to ischemic bowel.
12. The doctors perform an ultrasound to check for gallstones.
13. The patient has gallstones, but they are not the primary cause of her symptoms.
14. The doctors suspect that the patient may have a pancreatic cyst.
15. The patient's liver is failing.
16. The patient has a cyst that is connected to other organs, causing her symptoms.
17. The doctors inject bubbles into the cyst to track its movement.
18. The patient has a mass in her left atrium.
19. The patient has advanced dilated cardiomyopathy.
20. The doctors suspect that the patient's symptoms may be caused by a toxic substance.
21. The patient's biological parents may have tried to kill her when she was an infant.
22. The patient has pins in her brain, which were inserted through the soft fontanelle of an infant.
23. The pins were likely inserted by her biological parents or someone else.
24. The pins are causing the patient's symptoms.
25. The doctors plan to surgically remove the pins.