Retrospective diagnosis

A retrospective diagnosis (also retrodiagnosis or posthumous diagnosis) is the practice of identifying an illness after the death of the patient (sometimes a historical figure) using modern knowledge, methods and disease classifications.[1][2] Alternatively, it can be the more general attempt to give a modern name to an ancient and ill-defined scourge or plague.[3]

  1. ^ "MedTerms: Retrodiagnosis". MedicineNet.com. 2004-01-12. Archived from the original on 2012-08-07. Retrieved 2008-08-08.
  2. ^ Elmer, Peter (2004). The healing arts: health, disease and society in Europe, 1500–1800. Manchester: Manchester University Press. pp. xv. ISBN 978-0-7190-6734-1.
  3. ^ Burnham, John C. (2005). What is medical history?. Cambridge, UK: Polity. pp. 76–78. ISBN 978-0-7456-3224-7.