TY - CHAP M1 - Book, Section TI - Principles of Diagnostic Testing A1 - Suneja, Manish A1 - Szot, Joseph F. A1 - LeBlond, Richard F. A1 - Brown, Donald D. Y1 - 2020 N1 - T2 - DeGowin’s Diagnostic Examination, 11e AB - Sensitive and specific laboratory tests and imaging studies are essential to accurate diagnosis in many clinical settings. Proper use of the laboratory and imaging requires accurate clinical hypotheses generated at the bedside. Laboratory tests and imaging provide reliable and valid answers to well-conceived clinical questions. They are also liable to overinterpretation and can be quite misleading if not interpreted in the clinical context as answers to specific questions. Beyond a few screening tests, these studies should be used to test the physiologic and diagnostic hypotheses generated during the history and physical exam. The laboratory and the radiology suite are not the places to look for ideas; they are the places to test hypotheses. If you are unable to generate testable hypotheses after the history, physical exam, and screening tests, it will be more useful to seek consultation than to begin an undirected series of laboratory and radiologic studies. A full discussion of the proper use of diagnostic tests is beyond the scope of this text. SN - PB - McGraw Hill CY - New York, NY Y2 - 2024/04/19 UR - accessmedicine.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?aid=1174044263 ER -