ABSTRACT
Information about the risks of diagnostic tests is incomplete, and its quality has not been studied. A set of criteria was devised and applied to 434 published reports to assess the quality of data about supposed adverse effects associated with 25 diagnostic procedures. Using these criteria, authors' conclusions concerning types of sequelae were supported by published findings in only 41% of reports. Information regarding frequency of these risks was upheld in 20%. Sound clinical judgment requires more dependable data than are presently available.
Subject(s)
Diagnosis/adverse effects , Documentation/standards , Humans , MEDLARS , Risk , United StatesABSTRACT
Iatrogenic origins may be assigned to any form of kidney disease. Of the pathogenetic mechanisms involved, increasing importance is now attached to immunological responses and intravascular coagulopathies, though other processes long known to medicine have not ceased to play their part. Moreover, recent advances in the improvement of drugs and the standardisation of their use have given a better idea of the potential damage to the kidneys from many substances. A re-examination is made of the main findings in this field with a view to offering a simple summary of the underlying physiopathogenetic mechanisms, and drawing the diagnostic and clinical conclusions therefrom, so as to aid the general practitioner rather than the specialist. An account of the various medical interventions that may lead to kidney lesions, and the circumstances in which such interventions are most likely to be harmful, is followed by an analysis of recent opinions on the correct way of administering drugs in patients with kidney disease, so as to limit their potentially harmful effects as far as possible.
