Clinical reasoning and the new "non-" nosology.
Although seemingly odd, the designations prefixed with "non-" have become a familiar feature of clinical terminology. A common structure of these designations is the partition of a single clinical category into two contrasting ones. Despite the similar "non-" designations, the partitions can have four different functions: dividing one disease into two, aggregating multiple diseases, distinguishing etiologic uncertainty, and negating "legitimate" disease. The "non-" terminology may seem peculiar, but it is based on clinically pertinent distinctions and similarities in disease, reflecting prudent clinical reasoning.
Ellman
M S
MS
Department of Medicine, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06510.
Feinstein
A R
AR
D004194:Disease / Q000145:classification*; D006801:Humans; D009626:Terminology as Topic