What does a positive or negative test result really tell us? Part two of the Risky Business series explores diagnostic thresholds, false positives and false negatives, and why the neat categories in a research table do not remove uncertainty for the clinician treating an individual patient.
Emergency Medicine, a risky business part 2. Read More
Are we diagnosing disease, or deciding when a probability is high enough to act? The opening Risky Business article uses myocardial infarction and pulmonary embolism to explore uncertainty, treatment harms and why stopping investigation is different from proving that disease is absent.
Emergency Medicine, a risky business part 1. You are not a diagnostician. Read More
What can bedside echocardiography contribute when aortic dissection is suspected? This 2012 journal club appraises a retrospective study of type A dissection, questioning patient selection, specialist expertise and whether results from a cardiac centre can support decisions in a general emergency department.
Aortic Dissection – The time bomb of doom Read More
Should superficial venous thrombosis be observed or treated with anticoagulation? This 2012 discussion considers what ultrasound adds, unpacks the composite outcome in CALISTO and weighs treatment benefits against bleeding and burden, emphasising the importance of explaining uncertainty when making decisions with patients.
Superficial Venous Thrombosis: watch and wait or anticoagulate? Read More
