Isabel Healthcare Blog

What's Your Medical Diagnosis? 34y Male, diarrhea, weakness

Written by Megan Pennie | Thu, Mar 22, 2012 @ 01:22 PM

Test your medical diagnosis skills with NEJM cases and use Isabel to assist you in developing your differential. Get a free trial of Isabel to get started now.

About the Isabel Diagnosis Challenge

The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) publishes presentations of common diseases and unusual cases in the Clinical pathology Conference (CPC) series. The cases are educational and can pose diagnostic challenges even to the expert physicians.

Using the clinical features of these cases, evaluate your diagnostic skills and compare your performance to that of the physicians at MGH. If you are an Isabel client or have a free-trial subscription, use the diagnosis system to get a list of likely diagnoses.

Today's Case

Demographic: Male, 34 years, South America (temperate)
Clinical features:

  • chronic diarrhea
  • periodic paralysis
  • foul smelling stools
  • abdominal cramps
  • weight loss
  • hypokalemia


STOP!
Before you continue, construct your own:

  1. Complete differential diagnosis 
  2. Final diagnosis

Differential Diagnoses considered by the MGH panel:
Irritable bowel syndrome

Final Diagnosis of the case according to NEJM:
(i) Cystoisospora belli enteritis (ii)HIV infection

Differential Diagnoses of the case as given by Isabel:
Irritable bowel syndrome in Gastro

Was the final diagnosis given by Isabel:
Yes, (i) Cystoisospora belli enteritis in Infectious (ii) HIV infection in Infectious