Assessing the diagnostic capabilities of the app DemDx in an acute care setting (Preprint)

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cian Murphy

UNSTRUCTURED DemDx is a differential diagnosis app for students and junior doctors. Starting with a patient’s presenting complaint the app goes through a step-by-process through history, examination and investigation findings to an increasingly refined differential diagnosis list until a single most likely diagnosis is reached. The aim of this project was to assess the accuracy of DemDx in an Emergency Department (ED) setting. Anonymised clinical records for 100 patients were retrospectively obtained from the ED in Beth Israel, Boston, USA. This contained the differential diagnoses from the clerking doctor, who performed the initial assessment (D1). The discharge diagnosis was used as the gold standard diagnosis (D2). D1 agreed with D2 in 74.44% of cases while DemDx agreed with D2 in 85.56% of cases (p=0.0003716). When the first, and thus most likely, differential was taken from D1 and DemDx, they agreed with D2 in 20 and 18.8% of cases, respectively (p=0.1428). This demonstration of the clinical accuracy of the app highlights how it can be a useful medical student education tool.

2007 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 244-259 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michelle Cleary ◽  
Daniel Ruiz ◽  
Lindsey Eberman ◽  
Israel Mitchell ◽  
Helen Binkley

Objective:We present a case of severe dehydration, muscle cramping, and rhabdomyolysis in a high school football player followed by a suggested program for gradual return to play.Background:A 16-year-old male football player (body mass = 69.1 kg, height = 175.3 cm) reported to the ATC after the morning session on the second day of two-a-days complaining of severe muscle cramping.Differential Diagnosis:The initial assessment included severe dehydration and exercise-induced muscle cramps. The differential diagnosis was severe dehydration, exertional rhabdomyolysis, or myositis. CK testing revealed elevated levels indicating mild rhabdomyolysis.Treatment:The emergency department administered 8 L of intravenous (IV) fluid within the 48-hr hospitalization period, followed by gradual return to activity.Uniqueness:To our knowledge, no reports of exertional rhabdomyolysis in an adolescent football player exist. In this case, a high school quarterback with a previous history of heat-related cramping succumbed to severe dehydration and exertional rhabdomyolysis during noncontact preseason practice. We provide suggestions for return to activity following exertional rhabdomyolysis.


Author(s):  
Coda Marco ◽  
Sica Federica ◽  
Finelli Mirko ◽  
Ungaro Gaetano ◽  
Sica Alfonso Marco

The diagnosis from Covid-19 provides the set of several examinations such as: clinical examinations, laboratory examinations, radiographic examinations. Using radiological imaging, RX and chest CT, it is possible to evaluate the impairment of lung function and thanks to this aspect it is possible to define the severity and clinical conditions of the patient. In this way, it allows timely therapeutic intervention especially if the patient shows a mild condition in such a way as to avoid the onset of further complications. Chest X-rays allow both an initial assessment of patients and the possibility to perform a differential diagnosis towards other possible causes of lung parenchyma involvement. The CT scan, which highlights the peculiar characteristics of COVID pneumonia, is performed both as diagnostic confirmation and in the patient’s follow-up.


1986 ◽  
Vol 72 (5) ◽  
pp. 503-506 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ferdinando Preda ◽  
Marco Alloisio ◽  
Cosimo Lequaglie ◽  
Mauro Ongari ◽  
Gianluigi Ravasi

A review of the clinical records from 1947 to 1984 of the Istituto Nazionale Tumori of Milan provided 20 cases (14 males and 6 females) of esophageal leiomyoma. Eighteen of the tumors were in the thoracic esophagus and 2 were at the cardiac level. The most frequent symptoms were dysphagia, slight epigastralgia and odynophagia. Differential diagnosis should be made with mediastinic neoplasms and esophageal cancer. Barium swallow and esophagoscopy are the most sensitive procedures for a correct preoperative diagnosis. Surgery is mandatory because of the tendency to a continuous endoluminal growth (in 97% of the cases) and a possible malignant transformation. However, surgery is conservative: extramucosal enucleation of the leiomyoma is the procedure of choice. The long-term results are excellent, and morbidity is acceptable.


2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 44-50
Author(s):  
Sarah Siddiqui ◽  
Jonas Osher

Neck lumps have a varied aetiology, from a benign inflammatory cause to the first presenting sign of a malignancy. Patients may present to primary care complaining of a neck lump or they may be identified as an incidental finding during routine examination. This article highlights a structured approach to the initial assessment including history taking, risk factor assessment and clinical examination. Further investigations undertaken in a secondary care setting, such as ultrasound and guided fine needle aspirations, are then discussed. The common congenital, inflammatory, infective, vascular and neoplastic causes of neck lumps and their management and specialist referral pathway are discussed.


CJEM ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 19 (S1) ◽  
pp. S108
Author(s):  
D. McLean ◽  
L. Hewitson ◽  
D. Lewis ◽  
J. Fraser ◽  
J. Mekwan ◽  
...  

Introduction: Point of care ultrasound (US) is a key adjunct in the management of trauma patients, in the form of the extended focused assessment with sonography in trauma (E-FAST) scan. This study assessed the impact of adding an edus2 ultrasound simulator on the diagnostic capabilities of resident and attending physicians participating in simulated trauma scenarios. Methods: 12 residents and 20 attending physicians participated in 114 trauma simulations utilizing a Laerdal 3G mannequin. Participants generated a ranked differential diagnosis list after a standard assessment, and again after completing a simulated US scan for each scenario. We compared reports to determine if US improved diagnostic performance over a physical exam alone. Standard statistical tests (χ2 and Student t tests) were performed. The research team was independent of the edus2 designers. Results: Primary diagnosis improved significantly from 53 (46%) to 97 (85%) correct diagnoses with the addition of simulated US (χ2=37.7, 1df; p=<0.0001). Of the 61 scenarios where an incorrect top ranked diagnosis was given, 51 (84%) improved following US. Participants were assigned a score from 1 to 5 based on where the correct diagnosis was ranked, with a 5 indicating a correct primary diagnosis. Median scores significantly increased from 3.8 (IQR 3, 4.9) to 5 (IQR 4.7, 5; W=219, p<0.0001).Participants were significantly more confident in their diagnoses after using the US simulator, as shown by the increase in their mean confidence in the correct diagnosis from 53.1% (SD 22.8) to 83.5% (SD 19.1; t=9.0; p<0.0001)Additionally, participants significantly narrowed their differential diagnosis lists from an initial medium count of 3.5 (IQR 2.9, 4.4) possible diagnoses to 2.4 (IQR 1.9, 3; W=-378, p<0.0001) following US. The performance of residents was compared to that of attending physicians for each of the above analyses. No differences in performance were detected. Conclusion: This study showed that the addition of ultrasound to simulated trauma scenarios improved the diagnostic capabilities of resident and attending physicians. Specifically, participants improved in diagnostic accuracy, diagnostic confidence, and diagnostic precision. Additionally, we have shown that the edus2 simulator can be integrated into high fidelity simulation in a way that improves diagnostic performance.


2021 ◽  
Vol 93 (4) ◽  
pp. 487-496
Author(s):  
Alexandra Ya. Gudkova ◽  
Sergei V. Lapekin ◽  
Tinatin G. Bezhanishvili ◽  
Maria A. Trukshina ◽  
Victoria G. Davydova ◽  
...  

There are presented the literature data and a description of the clinical course of the disease in isolated/predominant cardiac amyloidosis. Amyloid cardiomyopathy is the most common phenocopy of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. The modern possibilities of non-invasive diagnostics using osteoscintigraphy for the differential diagnosis between amyloid cardiomyopathy caused by AL- and transthyretin amyloidosis are described in detail.


2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (5) ◽  
pp. 97-104
Author(s):  
N. Stepanov ◽  
Z. Duvayarov ◽  
I, Bystrova ◽  
T. Chepaikina ◽  
V. Kostrova

The prevalence and incidence of prostate cancer is gradually increasing both in our country and in countries near and far abroad. The difficulties in the differential diagnosis of prostate cancer are convincingly evidenced by the fact that the level of diagnostic errors reaches 40%. It should be noted that in assessing the differential diagnostic capabilities of the indicators of the clinical and special examination methods for patients with lower urinary tract symptoms, disagreements were found in 46–77% of the analyzed clinical signs, the changes of which mainly reflect the negative nature of the effect of tumor decay products on the patient’s body. The aim of the study was to improve the early diagnosis of prostate cancer by using the mathematical method of differential diagnosis of prostate pathology, as well as the rationale for the proposed method for early diagnosis of prostate cancer in patients with clinical symptoms. Using our proposed method for early diagnosis of prostate cancer makes the diagnosis not only reliable and accurate, but also independent of the level of qualification of the urologist and his personal experience, allows you to unify, optimize and personify the differential diagnosis of prostatic hypertrophy and prostate cancer.


2021 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 192-194
Author(s):  
Marina G. Avdeeva

It is difficult for a modern doctor who relies on a wide range of laboratory diagnostic capabilities to imagine the path of mistakes, insights and delusions traveled by doctors of the past. How exactly through clinical observation the disease was observed. The archival article Half-tree-day fever published in the journal is an example of a clinical and epidemic description of an outbreak of an acute infectious disease, the etiology of which remains unknown. The more interesting are the distinguishing issues of differential diagnostics.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document