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Special Considerations

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Writing Case Reports

Abstract

This chapter examines several variations on the traditional case report. The adverse drug reaction (ADR) case report has a vital role in pharmacovigilance. Since ADR case reports rely largely on temporal connections to support causality, a timeline is essential, and a validated causality scale, such as the Naranjo ADR Probability Scale or the Horn Drug Interaction Probability Scale, must be included. N-of-1 trials study individual patients in order to find the best treatment, using the subject’s own data. “Exceptional Responder” trials in oncology and studies using remote “phenotypic” monitoring devices demonstrate the important roles that n-of-1 trials can play in personalized medicine. Case series are similar in aim and focus to single case reports, but can offer more compelling evidence with “clusters” of new or unusual cases. Case series can be cross-sectional or longitudinal, and have applications in case definition, clues about cause, benchmarking studies, and case registries. Clinical images and clinical quiz articles have high educational value and can make powerful teaching points. Specific requirements and recommendations for these articles are reviewed.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland, OH, USA

    Clifford D. Packer MD

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  1. Clifford D. Packer MD
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Correspondence to Clifford D. Packer MD .

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Packer, C.D. (2017). Special Considerations. In: Writing Case Reports. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-41899-5_8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-41899-5_8

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

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  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-41899-5

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