Cases in the News

18 September 2015
New York Times "Diagnosis" article "What Caused This 15-Year-Old’s Debilitating Headaches?".  The case:  A 15 year old boy with a brain abscess and pulmonary arteriovenous malformation.  Click here for details.

29 August 2011
Washington Post "Medical Mysteries" article "A tiny baby who didn’t grow".  The case:  A 7 year old girl born with low weight, floppiness and weak cry.  Click here for details.

1 November 2009
New York Times Magazine "Diagnosis" article "Perplexing Pain". The case: A 46 year old woman with a 23 year history of attacks of abdominal pain and fever.  Click here for details.

17 August 2009
New York Times article "Healthy One Day, Dying the Next: A Medical Race".  The case:  A 16 year old girl develops what seems to be a "stomach virus" but it is accompanied by jaundice.  Click here for details.

19 May 2009
Boston Globe article "3 gravely disabled sisters; one fraying lifeline."  The case: In first grade, the girls began to have intellectual deterioration and attention deficit. Click here for details.

15 June 2008
New York Times Magazine "Diagnosis" article "Strange Spells".  The case:  A 15 year old boys with repeated episodes that appeared to be strokes or seizures.  Click here for details.

17 June 2007
New York Times Magazine article "Full-Body Failure".  The case:  A 22 year old woman presents with hepatomegaly, anemia and jaundice.  Click here for details.

19 May 2006
CNN video.  The case:  A newborn has long fingers and develops very tall stature.  Click here for details.

8 October 2005
Wall Street Journal article "The Doctor, The Father, The Movie and the Medicine".  The case:  A 5 year old boy develops slurred speech, clumsy gait and hearing impairment.  The software converges on the diagnosis very quickly.  Click here for details.

12 July 2005
Wall Street Journal article "Newborn Medical Screening Expands".  The case:  In an article on newborn screening, a boy with isovaleric acidemia is described briefly.  The software does respectably with the limited information and does better when more details from a family description are added.  Click here for details.

2 June 2005
Daily Telegraph (London) article "Genetic discovery offers new hope after family tragedy".  The case:  In an article about finding the genetic basis for Vanishing White Matter disease, a case description is given.  The software highlights the diagnosis even before any lab results are added.  Click here for details.

29 May 2005
New York Times Magazine article "Diagnosis: Facial tic, weight loss, delusion".  The case:  In the magazine's "Diagnosis" feature, a man with a facial tic, weight loss and paranoid delusions is described.  The software zeroes in on the diagnosis even without family history or lab tests.  Click here for details.

22 March 2005
New York Times article "Researchers Toil With Genes on the Fringe of a Cure".  The case:  An 18 month old girl regresses and develops seizures.  Click here for details.

30 January 2005
New York Times article "Racing with S".  The case:  In an article about a family organizing the medical community to find the gene for progeria, a boy with progeria is described.  The software zeroes in on the diagnosis without any lab tests.  Click here for details.  

19 December 2004
New York Times article "After Baby's Grim Diagnosis, Parents Try Drastic Treatment".  The case:  In an article about an experimental cord blood transplant, a baby girl with organomegaly is described.  The software zeroes in on the diagnosis without any lab tests.  Click here for details.

29 February 2004
New York Times Magazine article "Diagnosis: Chest Pain, Frequent Cramping, Weakness".  The case:  In the magazine's "Diagnosis" feature, a man with difficulty breathing, cramps and weakness is described.  The software zeroes in on the diagnosis even without family history or lab tests.  Click here for details.

19 May 2002
Inland Southern California Press Enterprise article "Looking up: After a coma and confused diagnosis, the future is getting brighter for a Norco child and family that won't give up".  The case:  A 14 month old was found in a coma with a subdural hematoma.  He was presumed to be a victim of child abuse until the diagnosis was found.  Click here for details.

20 October 1991
St. Louis Post-Dispatch article "How the system failed PS".  The case:  A 5 month old boy dies of a disease with vomiting and lethargy, and the mother is convicted of murder.  Click here for details.

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If you know of interesting cases in the news, in journals or on open Web sites of hospitals or foundations, please contact us and include enough information for us to find the material. The differential diagnosis will change over time as people mull over the case and submit new information to the database about findings in the relevant diseases.

For cases on the Web in which names are used, names are replaced by initials to conform with standard medical format for case presentations.