In selecting the diagnosis from the list of the hypotheses, start first with one single disease to explain all the patient’s manifestations rather than explain them by the coincidence of several diseases This is called the law of parsimony For example, if a patient has dilated heart, hepatomegaly, ascites and pedal edema, the single likely diagnosis would be cardiac failure – which is more likely than heart disease producing enlargement and cirrhosis with hepatomegaly
In selecting the diagnosis from the list of the hypotheses, start first with one single disease to explain all the patient’s manifestations rather than explain them by the coincidence of several diseases This is called the law of parsimony For example, if a patient has dilated heart, hepatomegaly, ascites and pedal edema, the single likely diagnosis would be cardiac failure – which is more likely than heart disease producing enlargement and cirrhosis with hepatomegaly
intro_a_-_arriving_at_a_medical_diagnosis.docx