Case title

Last revised by Henry Knipe on 5 Mar 2024

Each case should have a case title which can be entered in its dedicated box - a clear and concise case title is vital to having the educational case library well organized and easy to navigate. 

The case title is best labeled as just the diagnosis of the case:

  • Hepatoma

NOT

  • Interesting case of a patient with hepatoma

  • Pathologically-proven hepatoma (this should be included in the case description)

No full stop/period should be placed at the end of the case title, e.g. "Hepatoma" not "Hepatoma."

Titles should be in sentence case:

  • Myeloma with extraskeletal involvement

NOT

  • myeloma with extraskeletal involvement

  • MYELOMA WITH EXTRASKELETAL INVOLVEMENT

  • Myeloma With Extra Skeletal Involvement

Read more about capitalization

Use the full name of the condition rather than abbreviations. 

  • Developmental venous anomaly

NOT

  • DVA

  • Developmental venous anomaly (DVA) 

The exception to this is if

  • the abbreviation is better known than the full name in which case it can be included or even used solely if the term is very long. 

    • Dysembryoplastic neuroepithelial tumor (DNET)

    • CADASIL

  • or occasionally the pathological diagnosis, and therefore the case title, will include NOS (not otherwise specified) e.g. adenocarcinoma NOS

Under occasional circumstances, a specific point may need to be highlighted in addition to the diagnosis. Please format using a hyphen, with a space separating either side of the hyphen from the two words it lies between:

  • Myeloma - occult

NOT

  • Myeloma-occult

  • Myeloma: occult

  • Myeloma (occult)

Numerical or categorial classifications should be formatted so that the diagnosis mentioned first, then a hyphen is used to separate it from the classification type or level, with a space separating either side of the hyphen from the two words it lies between:

  • Choledochal cyst - type I

NOT

  • Type I choledochal cyst

  • Choledochal cyst-type I

  • Choledochal cyst: type I

  • Choledochal cyst (type I)

Each series in a case already has a modality and as such adding this routinely is not required. There are, however, occasions where the case includes something specific and not routine that may be of use. These should be added in brackets. Examples include: 

  • Liver adenoma (CEUS)

  • Scimitar syndrome (CMR)

Similarly, occasionally you may want to specify that a case only consists of an illustration or a photo. Modalities rarely need to be included in the case title as they are displayed in the search results. This can be done with brackets. Note that even if multiple images are included, the singular form should be used.

  • Sailboat (photo)

  • Fracture classification (illustration)

  • Base of skull (illustration) 

  • Myeloma (pathology)

  • Astrocytoma (gross pathology)

  • Glioblastoma (histology)

Do not use bold or italics anywhere in a title and avoid using it elsewhere in the case as much as you possibly can (read more on using bold here and on using italics here); the examples above are in bold just to make them stand out.

Case titles should not include:

  • sides of the body (right or left)

  • adjectives such as 'small' or 'large'

  • laterality (unilateral or bilateral), unless it is associated with a specific radiological appearance (e.g. facet dislocation), and it should be formatted in the same way as highlighting a specific point

  • numbering of vertebral level e.g. C3, T4 or L5, instead use cervical, thoracic, lumbar, sacral or coccygeal spine; also, this should be formatted as highlighting a specific point

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