title: The dilemma of the unexpected result.
abstract: Office, laboratory and radiological investigations are valuable tools that facilitate diagnosis, screening and monitoring processes in clinical practice. However, limitations in the sensitivity, specificity and applicability of a given test to a particular clinical scenario must always be remembered before ordering it. This article examines four case histories that illustrate some issues related to the ordering of tests and the difficulties that investigation results can produce.
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health and Community Medicine, University of Melbourne.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Vafiadis
mesh_terms: D015746:Abdominal Pain / Q000175:diagnosis; D000328:Adult; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005189:False Positive Reactions; D005260:Female; D006042:Goiter / Q000175:diagnosis; D006801:Humans; D017116:Low Back Pain / Q000175:diagnosis; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D014552:Urinary Tract Infections / Q000175:diagnosis