The "Case of the Week" from eMedicine is a continuing series of medical case studies distributed via email to health care practitioners around the world. The primary mission of the series is to educate health care providers regarding the clinical presentation, diagnosis, management, and complications of a wide range of disorders encountered by general practitioners and specialists in all areas of medicine. The cases have been very well received, with the readership numbering hundreds of thousands and still growing.

Each case should include the following

1. A topic with a broad appeal to a general clinical audience that falls into one or more of these categories:
   • A commonly encountered medical condition (e.g., cholecystitis, appendicitis, incarcerated hernia)
   • A relatively less common, but "cannot miss" diagnosis associated with a common presentation (e.g., aortic dissection for a patient with chest pain; epiploic appendagitis in a patient with right lower quadrant pain)
   • An interesting medical condition (e.g., herpes zoster oticus, pneumatosis intestinalis)
   • A regional disease or condition (e.g., dracunculiasis, coccidioidomycosis)
2. An associated multimedia resource with sufficient resolution:
   • Digitized imaging study such as a plain radiograph, an ultrasound image, or a CT scan image
   • Digital photograph of a physical examination finding
   • Digitized or scanned electrocardiogram
   • Video clip of an ultrasound exam or physical exam finding
   • Digitized histopathology slide
3. The follow-up to the patient's initial clinical presentation

Please do the following

1. Download the "Case of the Week: A Formula for Success" document, which is an in-depth guideline for writing your case study
2. Adapt your case to the submission template
3. Sign a copyright release or permission to publish form for your multimedia resource

Possible responses within 2 weeks of submission

1. Accepted without revisions
2. Accepted with revisions
3. Rejected

If your case receives an "accepted with revisions" status, you will be expected to make the necessary changes as suggested by the medical editor of the case. Generally, your case will be published within a 2- to 3-month time frame, but the editors reserve the right to suspend the case for an indefinite period.

The decision to suspend a case may be made for a number of reasons, such as if another case on a similar topic was recently published or if there are difficulties or delays in obtaining copyright clearances or in processing the multimedia used in the case.

Example cases

Near-Syncope in a 24-Year-Old Man

Acute Onset of Abdominal Pain in a 76-Year-Old Man

Submit cases or questions

Please send your note of interest, details of your case submission, or questions to case@emedicine.com

Rick G. Kulkarni, MD
Medical Director
eMedicine

Luis Soler
Editorial Assistant
eMedicine