Psychiatria pre prax 4/2014

Why and how to write a case report?

I have long intended to write this article that does not even have the slightest ambition to advise someone on something or even to instruct them. At a recent meeting with my students I assured myself that this elementary topic was capable of generating a huge interest, and I was glad to have managed to highlight the irreplaceable role of a case report dealing with a medical problem. A case report is indeed the core of medical knowledge and the soul of medical wit. But it has remained the Cinderella among the more appreciated forms of medical presentations, such as monographies, summary reports, randomized scientic studies, and others. It is, however, often looked upon with a certain contempt when being referred to as only an “ordinary” case report. Nowadays, hardly anybody is aware that it was on the basis of individual case reports that the elementary function of the thyroid gland was elucidated or the typical symptoms of acquired immune deciency syndrome (AIDS) or of mad cow disease were highlighted. Today, case reports are an inseparable part of the content of most top world journals. They are a source of new information andhave anindispensable educational function for each of us. When professor Dušek came up with a new form of practical instruction in pathology, the so-called “problem-based learning”, he stimulated lively interest in many students, followed by an enthusiastic acceptance of this programme. What was thenconsidered a “revolutionary” change by most of us was already known to William Osler in the early twentieth century when he formulated a remarkable idea: “The best teaching is that taught by the patient himself.”

Keywords: case report, metodology.