Interpreting Hoofbeats: Can Bayes Help Clear the Haze?

摘要: The physician of a 59-year-old man with long history mild, labile hypertension became concerned when, despite drug therapy, the patient's blood pressure remained persistently elevated, reaching levels as high 180/120 mm Hg. He ordered test urinary vanilmandelic acid (VMA) excretion and was surprised when he received report 20.9 mg per day, value twice upper limit normal. VMA is end product catecholamine metabolism, its increased in large proportion patients pheochromocytomas. When we collect 24-hour urine samples for hypertensive patients, especially those . . .