КАРТОЧКА-ЗАДАНИЕ НА ТЕМУ

«MEDICAL WRITING: CASE ABSTRACT_03»

Warm-up

·         What is a medical case report?

·         What parts does it include?

·         What is an abstract?

Read the abstract of the medical case report:

Addison's disease presenting with idiopathic intracranial hypertension in 24-year-old woman: a case report

Abstract

Introduction

Idiopathic intracranial hypertension can rarely be associated with an underlying endocrine disorder such as Cushing's syndrome, hyperthyroidism, or with administration of thyroxine or growth hormone. Though cases of idiopathic intracranial hypertension associated with Addison's disease in children have been reported, there is only one documented case report of this association in adults. We describe a case of an acute adrenal insufficiency precipitated by idiopathic intracranial hypertension in a Caucasian female.

Case presentation

A 24-year-old Caucasian woman was acutely unwell with a background of several months of generalised fatigue and intermittent headaches. She had unremarkable neurological and systemic examination with a normal computerised tomography and magnetic resonance imaging of the brain. Normal cerebrospinal fluid but increased opening pressure at lumbar puncture suggested intracranial hypertension. A flat short synacthen test and raised level of adrenocorticotrophic hormone were consistent with primary adrenal failure.

Conclusion

Addison's disease can remain unrecognised until precipitated by acute stress. This case suggests that idiopathic intracranial hypertension can rarely be associated with Addison's disease and present as an acute illness. Idiopathic intracranial hypertension is possibly related to an increase in the levels of arginine vasopressin peptide in serum and cerebrospinal fluid secondary to a glucocorticoid deficient state.

Find in the abstract:

·         Background

·         Why is it important

·         Needs to be reported

Answer the questions:

1.       Is this the first report of this kind in the literature?

2.       What are brief details of what the patient(s) presented with?

3.       What the reader should learn from the case report?

4.       What the clinical impact will be?

5.       Is it an original case report of interest to a particular clinical specialty of medicine?

6.       Will it have a broader clinical impact across medicine?

7.       Are any teaching points identified?

Follow-up

·         Why abstract is the most important part for case published in electronic databases?

·         What are basics of abstract writing?