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.
Department of Medicine, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06510.
M S
MS
Ellman
A R
AR
Feinstein
D004194:Disease / Q000145:classification*; D006801:Humans; D009626:Terminology as Topic