Informal clinical consulting via the Internet

Canadian Medical Association Journal 1996; 154: 1150

[Letters]

Although the Internet has existed for several years, until recently it has been used primarily by scientific and technical workers. Now that Internet access has become commonly available through service providers, some patients are using this technology to aid in their medical care. The following case recently came to my attention.

A middle-aged communications technologist had noted for several years that food was getting caught in what he believed to be a pouch in his esophagus. Although this was not usually a problem, filling of the pouch was leading more and more often to vomiting in socially embarrassing circumstances.

Because the man did not have a family physician, he sought information on his condition from friends, relatives and the Merck Manual. He suspected that the description of Zenker's diverticulum in the manual matched his condition. He then conducted a search of the Internet (using the Lycos search engine) and found a reference to Zenker's diverticulum in an article I posted to GasNET (a clinical Internet resource at http://gasnet.med.yale.edu).

As a result, the patient telephoned me seeking clinical advice. I provided informal advice, outlined what investigations could be done and provided the patient with the names of clinicians with experience in esophageal conditions.

This story illustrates some of the useful ways patients may sometimes acquire clinical information. As the Internet continues to increase in popularity, I expect that patients will "surf the net" for information about their condition.

D. John Doyle, MD, PhD, FRCPC
Toronto Hospital
Toronto, Ont.

| CMAJ April 15, 1996 (vol 154, no 8) |