Clinical Diagnosis

This handbook describes the diagnostic process clearly and logically, aiding medical students and others who wish to improve their diagnostic performance and to learn more about the diagnostic process.

This unique book presents a framework for the strategy and methodology of diagnostic research, in relation to its relevance for practice. Now in its second edition The Evidence Base of Clinical Diagnosis has been fully revised and extended with new chapters covering the STARD guidelines (STAndards for the Reporting of Diagnostic accuracy studies) and the multivariable analysis of diagnostic data. With contributions from leading international experts in evidence-based medicine, this book is an indispensable guide on how to conduct and interpret studies in clinical diagnosis. It will serve as a valuable resource for all investigators who want to embark on diagnostic research and for clinicians, practitioners and students who want to learn more about its principles and the relevant methodological options available.

Getting the right diagnosis is a key aspect of health care - it provides an explanation of a patient's health problem and informs subsequent health care decisions. The diagnostic process is a complex, collaborative activity that involves clinical reasoning and information gathering to determine a patient's health problem. According to Improving Diagnosis in Health Care, diagnostic errors-inaccurate or delayed diagnoses-persist throughout all settings of care and continue to harm an unacceptable number of patients. It is likely that most people will experience at least one diagnostic error in their lifetime, sometimes with devastating consequences. Diagnostic errors may cause harm to patients by preventing or delaying appropriate treatment, providing unnecessary or harmful treatment, or resulting in psychological or financial repercussions. The committee concluded that improving the diagnostic process is not only possible, but also represents a moral, professional, and public health imperative. Improving Diagnosis in Health Care, a continuation of the landmark Institute of Medicine reports To Err Is Human (2000) and Crossing the Quality Chasm (2001), finds that diagnosis-and, in particular, the occurrence of diagnostic errorsâ€"has been largely unappreciated in efforts to improve the quality and safety of health care. Without a dedicated focus on improving diagnosis, diagnostic errors will likely worsen as the delivery of health care and the diagnostic process continue to increase in complexity. Just as the diagnostic process is a collaborative activity, improving diagnosis will require collaboration and a widespread commitment to change among health care professionals, health care organizations, patients and their families, researchers, and policy makers. The recommendations of Improving Diagnosis in Health Care contribute to the growing momentum for change in this crucial area of health care quality and safety.

A quick guide to appropriately selecting and interpreting laboratory tests, Small Animal Clinical Diagnosis by Laboratory Methods, 5th Edition helps you utilize your in-house lab or your specialty reference lab to efficiently make accurate diagnoses without running a plethora of unnecessary and low-yield tests. It provides answers to commonly asked questions relating to laboratory tests, and solutions to frequently encountered problems in small animal diagnosis. For easy reference, information is provided by clinical presentation and abnormalities, and includes hundreds of tables, boxes, key points, and algorithms. This edition, now in full color, is updated with the latest advances in laboratory testing methods and diagnostic problem solving. Written by noted educators Dr. Michael Willard and Dr. Harold Tvedten, this book may be used as an on-the-spot guide to specific problems or conditions as well as a reference for more detailed research on difficult cases. Concise discussions address laboratory approaches to various disorders, possible conclusions from various test results, artifacts and errors in diagnoses, and interpretations leading to various diagnoses. Hundreds of tables, boxes, algorithms, and key points offer at-a-glance information including cautions, common pitfalls, and helpful "pearls," and lead to proper differential and clinical diagnostic decision making. Note boxes identify key considerations in correlating clinical signs with test data for accurate diagnoses, highlight safety precautions, and offer helpful tips for sample preparation and interpretation. Chapters on laboratory diagnostic toxicology and therapeutic drug monitoring help in handling potentially fatal poisonings and other special situations. Expert editors and contributors provide clinical knowledge and successful diagnostic problem-solving solutions. A practical appendix lists referral laboratories that may be contacted for certain diseases, and reference values with the normal or expected range for coagulation, hematology, and more. Updated coverage integrates the newest advances in testing methods and diagnostic problem solving. Full-color photos and schematic drawings are placed adjacent to related text, and accurately depict diagnostic features on microscopic slide preparations as well as test procedures and techniques.

This innovative introduction to patient encounters utilizes an evidence-based step-by-step process that teaches students how to evaluate, diagnose, and treat patients based on the clinical complaints they present. By applying this approach, students are able to make appropriate judgments about specific diseases and prescribe the most effective therapy. (Product description).

Macleod’s Clinical Diagnosis demonstrates how to apply the core clinical skills learned from the companion textbook Macleod’s Clinical Examination to maximum advantage. Charting the course from routine work-up to diagnosis, this book presents a modern and realistic approach to clinical assessment and explains how to integrate information obtained from the history, examination, bedside tests and specialised investigations. The first section Principles of clinical assessment examines different approaches to diagnosis, reviews the fundamental elements necessary for accurate patient assessment, provides a helpful template for a ‘routine workup’ and describes how to adapt the assessment to fit the clinical context. The second core section of the book Assessment of common presenting problems contains a series of ‘diagnostic guides’ that lead the reader, step-by-step through the major presenting problems in medicine and surgery, explaining how to recognise red flag features, eliminate life-threatening conditons and generate a logical differential diagnosis. This book has been praised as an invaluable resource for senior medical students and junior doctors as they attempt to make the difficult transition from mastering basic clinical skills to assessing patients in the real world of clinical medicine. A unique book allowing a reader to apply the skills of clinical examination in the formulation of a differential diagnosis and placing a patient’s symptoms in context. Takes a problem-based approach to diagnostic reasoning, reflecting both modern medical and current educational practices. Builds on the clinical skills outlined in the companion Macleod’s Clinical Examination textbook. For this Second Edition the text has been expanded with five new topics covering nausea and vomiting; vaginal bleeding; red eye; urinary incontinence; and weight loss.

Accurate diagnosis is the foundation of medical practice, but at the start of the diagnostic process, uncertainty is inevitable. The clinician's skills and cognitive attributes determine the quality of the initial differential diagnosis and thus the crucial first phases of investigation and treatment; mistakes are often self-propagating. Diagnostic error is a major cause of avoidable morbidity and mortality, and is the commonest reason for successful litigation. Risk and Reasoning in Clinical Diagnosis is an accessible and readable look at the diagnostic process. Dr. Cym Ryle presents the insights and concepts developed in cognitive psychology which have led to the consensus that in all domains human reasoning is primarily driven by unconscious, intuitive mechanisms; the contribution of structured, analytical thinking is variable and inconsistent. He notes that the risk of error is inseparable from these mechanisms. Dr. Ryle then develops a description of the diagnostic process which encompasses its form, strengths and fallibility, and illustrates this description with examples from his work as a general practitioner. He argues that improving diagnostic accuracy should be a priority, and that there is sufficient evidence to guide changes in medical training, in clinical practice, and in the culture and organisation of our institutions. He identifies specific, practical steps that can be taken by individual clinicians and by clinical teams, suggests priorities for action in our institutions, and considers the obstacles to progress.

A guide to advanced assessment and clinical diagnosis, this text is organized in a body systems framework and focuses on the adult patient. Each chapter focuses on a major problem associated with each particular body system.