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Donald E. Riesenberg, MD

JAMA. 1986;255(15):2067.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings.

"Dear Doctor: Your case report is well written and interesting; it illustrates the many facets of an important entity. We do not find it acceptable for publication." Blasphemy! The single-case method is a venerable teaching technique, which closely approximates real medical practice. Why, then, do many prospective authors receive some version of the above letter?

The difficulty may be a misunderstanding of criteria for acceptability of such papers. THE JOURNAL very strongly endorses the concept of publishing case reports. In fact, five of 51 recently collected Landmark Articles in Medicine¹ deal with single cases. Greenwalt,² commenting on one of those landmark cases, has said that "carefully documented study of an unusual patient represents an experiment of nature that may be the opportunity to explain a long-recorded but unexplained clinical mystery."

In this issue of THE JOURNAL appear a CASE REPORT and accompanying editorial^3,4 that serve to clarify . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

Footnotes
Address editorial communications to the Editor, 535 N Dearborn St, Chicago, IL 60610.

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