Карточка-задание по английскому языку на тему «MEDICAL WRITING: CASE ABSTRACT_513»

КАРТОЧКА-ЗАДАНИЕ НА ТЕМУ

«MEDICAL WRITING: CASE ABSTRACT_513»

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:

Accidental carbon monoxide poisoning presenting without a history of exposure: A case report

Abstract

Introduction

Carbon monoxide poisoning is easy to diagnose when there is a history of exposure. When the exposure history is absent, or delayed, the diagnosis is more difficult and relies on recognising the importance of multi-system disease. We present a case of accidental carbon monoxide poisoning.

Case presentation

A middle-aged man, who lived alone in his mobile home was found by friends in a confused, incontinent state. Initial signs included respiratory failure, cardiac ischaemia, hypotension, encephalopathy and a rash, whilst subsequent features included rhabdomyolysis, renal failure, amnesia, dysarthria, parkinsonism, peripheral neuropathy, supranuclear gaze palsy and cerebral haemorrhage. Despite numerous investigations including magnetic resonance cerebral imaging, lumbar puncture, skin biopsy, muscle biopsy and electroencephalogram a diagnosis remained elusive. Several weeks after admission, diagnostic breakthrough was achieved when the gradual resolution of the patient's amnesia, encephalopathy and dysarthria allowed an accurate history to be taken for the first time. The patient's last recollection was turning on his gas heating for the first time since the spring. A gas heating engineer found the patient's gas boiler to be in a dangerous state of disrepair and it was immediately decommissioned.

Conclusion

This case highlights several important issues: the bewildering myriad of clinical features of carbon monoxide poisoning, the importance of making the diagnosis even at a late stage and preventing the patient's return to a potentially fatal toxic environment, and the paramount importance of the history in the diagnostic method.

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?