Clinical case studies: are they still necessary?

Abstract

Clinical case studies and the history of their emergence and development are analyzed. Evidence is provided for the risk of clinical case studies’ abandonment due to universal availability of medical imaging methods. Contribution of clinical case studies both to appropriate treatment tactics and to physician’s knowledge and experience is shown. In the context of preventive medicine, when the morphological substrate of the disease is detected in apparently healthy individuals, clinical case studies make it possible to perform preemptive surgery or to avoid it on a reasonable basis, thereby helping to resolve the situation of incidental findings to the benefit of the patient.

Keywords

• clinical case studies
• imaging methods
• preventive neurosurgery
• physician’s education