Article Text
Abstract
Diagnostic reasoning relies on cognitive heuristics to recognise patterns of symptoms and signs in order to arrive at a diagnosis. These rules of thumb allow us to rapidly diagnose common conditions that present in typical ways. However, they may lead us astray when common conditions present atypically or when a patient has a rare condition or multiple conditions causing their constellation of symptoms, signs, and test results, rather than having a single diagnosis to explain them all. This article describes strategies to help counteract diagnostic pitfalls, to expand diagnostic possibilities and to make diagnostic progress with complex, multielement cases.
- CLINICAL NEUROLOGY
Data availability statement
Data sharing not applicable as no datasets generated and/or analysed for this study.
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Data availability statement
Data sharing not applicable as no datasets generated and/or analysed for this study.
Footnotes
X @AaronLBerkowitz
Contributors The author is solely responsible for the content of the article.
Funding The authors have not declared a specific grant for this research from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.
Competing interests No relevant disclosures, but the author receives compensation through book royalties, serving on an editorial board, and serving as an expert consultant to legal firms.
Provenance and peer review Not commissioned. Externally peer reviewed by Richard Davenport, Edinburgh, UK, and Robin Howard, London, UK.
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