Specimen Discrepancies in a Clinical Setting

Diagnostic discrepancies in clinical practice

Autopsies are the gold standard for diagnostic accuracy; however, no recent study has analyzed autopsies in heart failure (HF).We reviewed 1241 autopsies (January 2000-May 2005) and selected 232 patients with HF. Clinical and autopsy diagnoses were analyzed and discrepancies categorized according to their importance regarding therapy and prognosis.Mean age was 63.3 ± 15.9 years; 154 (66.4%) pat...

Cardiac troponins T and I: reproducible discrepancies in the clinical setting.

The universal definition of myo-cardial infarction includes the increase and/or decrease in cardiac biomarkers, with at least 1 value greater than the 99th-percentile upper reference limit, concurrently with evidence of myocardial isch-emia and corresponding clinical symptoms, electrocardiographic changes, or imaging evidence (1). Among cardiac biomarkers, cardiac troponins, including cardiac t...

Massilia varians Isolated from a Clinical Specimen

We report a case of Massilia varians isolated from a deep finger wound following orthopedic surgery on an immunocompetent patient. The bacterium was identified by 16S rDNA sequence analysis. This is the first case of M. varians isolated from a clinical specimen since the first report in 2008.

Measuring informant discrepancies in clinical child research.

Discrepancies among informants' ratings of child psychopathology have important implications for diagnosis, assessment, and treatment. Typically, parents and children complete measures (e.g., self-report checklists, diagnostic instruments) to assess child dysfunction. Ratings gathered from these sources reveal relatively little agreement on the nature and extent of the child's social, emotional...

Learning in a Clinical Setting