Ian Bickle - Data Interpretation for Medical Students

2012 PASTEST LTD
Egerton Court
Parkgate Estate
Knutsford
Cheshire
WA16 8DX

Telephone: 01565 752000

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior permission of the copyright owner.

First published 2006, reprinted 2007, second edition 2012, reprinted January 2013

ISBN: 190563577X

ISBN: 9781905635771
ePub ISBN: 9781908185884
Mobi ISBN: 9781908185082

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

The information contained within this book was obtained by the authors from reliable sources. However, while every effort has been make to ensure its accuracy, no responsibility for loss, damage or injury occasioned to any person acting or refraining from action as a result of information contained herein can be accepted by the publishers or authors.

PasTest Revision Books and Intensive Courses

PasTest has been established in the field of postgraduate medical education since 1972, providing revision books and intensive study courses for doctors preparing for their professional examinations.

Books and courses are available for the following specialties:

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Illustrations by Ben Stockham
Text prepared by Carnegie Book Production, Lancaster, UK

Printed and bound in the Uk by Page Bros, Norwich

Contents

Preface to the second edition

The practice of medicine in the twenty-first century is centred on data interpretation. Never before have so many tests been available to help diagnose disease and monitor patient progress. One difficulty facing students and junior doctors is in choosing which tests to request. This is especially important in the current financial climate where ordering a range of unnecessary tests will be very costly for the health service. Once a test result is back, the investigator must be able to interpret the result confidently and accurately. We encourage investigations to be assessed in a sequential manner, with their interpretation dictating subsequent tests, rather than a blunder-bus approach. This is professionally more satisfying and more educational, and encourages thoughtful medicine and sensible use of resources.

We hope that the latest edition of this book will help you as you begin interpreting all forms of data for your patients. All aspects of the book have been reviewed for the second edition. New sections have been written to incorporate latest developments, difficult concepts have been further clarified, and more example cases have been added to test your understanding. The imaging section has been extended in keeping with the increasing influence that this plays in everyday clinical medicine.

The first edition has been more successful than we could have imagined; however, after 5 years a refresher was much needed.

It is our hope that, in some small way, the care of patients will be improved from the use of this text.

Acknowledgements

We have included material that we feel represents common scenarios and that best illustrates the various investigations in medicine. All material has received intensive feedback during the production process to ensure that it is readable and usable. We both greatly value constructive criticism, and ideas to improve this text further would be very welcome. Please e-mail us on if you have any suggestions.

A hugely influential contributor to this book must be mentioned first. Sandy Davey is a current medical student in Queens University Belfast. His unique qualities, limitless enthusiasm and bravery to comment have helped shape the final draft of this book. We both owe him a huge debt of gratitude.

A special mention must also be made of the contributions of Professor Patrick Bell who reviewed the book critically.

We also owe our Commissioning Editor at Pastest, Elizabeth Kerr, our sincere thanks and apologies thanks for supporting us throughout this project and making valuable comments; apologies for having to put up with our incessant demands, impatience and peculiarities.

Thanks are extended to Joel Rankin for assisting with the ECGs, Dr Barry Kelly for providing a selection of radiographs, and Dr Ann Johnston for reviewing the neurology section.

PH would like to thank his parents and sister Kerry for their never-ending support and encouragement. He also thanks Anna for her incredible patience during the writing process.

ICB would like to thank Haiza who, despite his spending hours putting this book together, still agreed to marry him!

Like the world of medicine, our own lives has changed since the 1st edition in 2005. We have both been blessed with beautiful daughters to whom we dedicate this 2nd edition.

Chloe and Nur Ayesha, you are the sunshine in your Daddys eyes.

Normal values

Haematology

Full blood picture

Biochemistry