A pathophysiologic approach to diagnosis

This book is a recommended reading for all medical professionals engaging in patient diagnosis.

SUMMARY:

These excerpts from Professor Ashok Chandra's "Clinical Medicine: A Pathophysiologic Approach to Diagnosis" present a framework for understanding and diagnosing diseases by focusing on their underlying mechanisms. The text emphasises a structured approach, beginning with the site of the disease, identifying its cause (aetiology), explaining the resulting functional changes (pathophysiology), and assessing the impact on the patient (dysfunction). Professor Chandra advocates for understanding diseases through "structure function units" rather than purely anatomical divisions and illustrates these concepts with examples from various organ systems. The work also outlines patterns of disease presentation linked to pathology and aetiology, and discusses the "biological cycles of disease" to aid in diagnosis and management, positioning the clinician as a "virtual" pathologist.

Download the full book as a PDF here.

Download the AI generated audio file conversation about this book.

A system of diagnosis in outline

This short work deals with a uniform format for diagnostic workup of a patient presenting with any symptom or sign due to involvement of any system. An obvious and useful bias will be there towards the common diseases and presentations but the format is adaptable to all branches, disciplines and specialties.

SUMMARY:

The primary source, an excerpt from "Clinical Medicine: A System of Diagnosis in Outline," by Prof Ashok Chandra, outlines a structured approach to medical diagnosis. It emphasises a systematic method for evaluating patients based on presenting symptoms and signs, linking these to potential anatomical sites, disease nature, pathophysiology, and functional disturbances. The text dedicates sections to applying this "Common Plan" to specific medical disciplines such as cardiology, respiratory medicine, neurology, hepatobiliary disease, and renal disease, detailing relevant sites, aetiologies, and diagnostic workups for each. Additionally, the source includes a dedication, an introduction to clinical medicine's dual facets of diagnosis and management, and concludes with sections on summarising diagnostic information and a five-tiered approach to clinical therapeutics, alongside the author's professional summary.