PNH mentioned on "House" TV show

[Neil Cuadra]

PNH was mentioned on a recent episode of the "House" TV show, a medical drama that features patients with unusual symptoms who are difficult to diagnose. The episode was named "Lucky Thirteen" and was broadcast on October 21, 2008.

In the story, a woman has a host of symptoms, including low blood counts and spontaneous bleeding. Among the possible diagnoses the doctors discuss are aplastic anemia and PNH. They refer to PNH only by its initials and they don't make clear why they think she might have PNH. The doctors decide that the woman needs a bone marrow transplant and they discuss total body irradiation and graft-versus-host disease. (By the end of show, she is found to have a different rare disease.)

It's a surprise when TV medical dramas mention a disease that you are personally familiar with. A brief mention of PNH doesn't really educate the public about the disease, but it can't hurt. Maybe somebody who saw the show and reads about the next Walk for PNH will remember hearing the name before.

[dkimmel]

This might be old news but there was a "mystery diagnosis" featuring PNH as well.

[Neil Cuadra]

Originally Posted by dkimmel

This might be old news but there was a "mystery diagnosis" featuring PNH as well.

Yes, that was Mystery Diagnosis season 4, episode 4, December 2007. The title was "Donor Disaster" and it featured Rachel Crawford, a member of the PNH Support Group.