WRITING CASE REPORTS: A Literature Review

Must Read articles on writing case reports:

1. McCarthy LH, Reilly KE. How to write a case report. Fam Med. 2000
Mar;32(3):190-5.

Department of Family and Preventive Medicine, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences

Center, USA. laine-mccarthy@ouhsc.edu

BACKGROUND: Since before Hippocrates, case reports have provided a rich resource
for teaching and research in medicine. Case reports are published by many prominent
journals--more than 140,000 case reports are indexed in MEDLINE from 1996 to
present--and a number of narrative guidelines for the preparation of case reports have
appeared in the medical literature. To facilitate the preparation of case reports, we
reviewed the existing guidelines and a random sampling of published case reports and
created a fill-in-the-blanks worksheet for physicians to use to capture unique scientific
observations. Although originally developed to assist family practice residents to write
case reports, the case report worksheet can be used by physicians in any practice
setting and any discipline to collect and report interesting, unusual, or newsworthy
cases.

Publication Types:
• Case Reports
PMID: 10726220 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

2. Cohen H. How to write a patient case report. Am J Health Syst Pharm. 2006
Oct 1;63(19):1888-92.
Free text at: www.ajhp.org

Arnold & Marie Schwartz College of Pharmacy & Health Sciences, Long Island
University, Brooklyn, NY 11203, USA. hcohenliu@aol.com

PURPOSE: Guidelines for writing patient case reports, with a focus on medication-
related reports, are provided. SUMMARY: The format of a patient case report
encompasses the following five sections: an abstract, an introduction and objective that
contain a literature review, a description of the case report, a discussion that includes a
detailed explanation of the literature review, a summary of the case, and a conclusion.
The abstract of a patient case report should succinctly include the four sections of the
main text of the report. The introduction section should provide the subject, purpose, and
merit of the case report. It must explain why the case report is novel or merits review,
and it should include a comprehensive literature review that corroborates the author's
claims. The case presentation section should describe the case in chronological order
and in enough detail for the reader to establish his or her own conclusions about the
case's validity. The discussion section is the most important section of the case report. It
ought to evaluate the patient case for accuracy, validity, and uniqueness; compare and
contrast the case report with the published literature; derive new knowledge; summarize
the essential features of the report; and draw recommendations. The conclusion section
should be brief and provide a conclusion with evidence-based recommendations and
applicability to practice. CONCLUSION: Patient case reports are valuable resources of
 new and unusual information that may lead to vital research.

Publication Types:
• Guideline
PMID: 16990637 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

Helpful links: http://student.bmj.com/back_issues/0204/education/60.html

Additional Literature Review on Writing Case Reports (listed by

date):

Papanas N, Lazarides MK. Writing a case report: polishing a gem? Int Angiol. 2008
Aug;27(4):344-9.

Bjerregaard P. Case reports. J Electrocardiol. 2008 Mar-Apr;41(2):83.

Neely JG, Karni RJ, Nussenbaum B, Paniello RC, Fraley PL, Wang EW, Rich JT.
Practical guide to understanding the value of case reports. Otolaryngol Head Neck
Surg. 2008 Mar;138(3):261-4.

Aitken LM, Marshall AP. Writing a case study: Ensuring a meaningful contribution to the
literature. Aust Crit Care. 2007 Nov;20(4):132-6. Epub 2007 Oct 23.
Malay DS. The value of an interesting case. J Foot Ankle Surg. 2007 Jul-Aug;46(4):211-
2.

Alwi I. Tips and tricks to make case report. Acta Med Indones. 2007 Apr-Jun;39(2):96-8.

Ramulu VG, Levine RB, Hebert RS, Wright SM. Development of a case report review
instrument. Int J Clin Pract. 2005 Apr;59(4):457-61.

Sorinola O, Olufowobi O, Coomarasamy A, Khan KS. Instructions to authors for case

reporting are limited: a review of a core journal list. BMC Med Educ. 2004 Mar 25;4:4.

Kljakovic M. Single cases in general practice and general medical journals. Aust Fam
Physician. 2002 Jul;31(7):669-73.

Walter G, Rey JM, Dekker F. The humble case report. Aust N Z J Psychiatry. 2001
Apr;35(2):240-5.

Wright SM, Kouroukis C. Capturing zebras: what to do with a reportable case. CMAJ.
2000 Aug 22;163(4):429-31.
Free text at: www.cmaj.com

Coates MM. Writing for publication: case reports. J Hum Lact. 1992 Mar;8(1):23-6.