The Use of Digital Computers in Dermatologic Diagnosis: Computer-Aided Diagnosis of Febrile Illness with Eruption

Abstract

A computer program has been written to assist medical personnel in the diagnosis of eruptions with fever. Thirty-four criteria are utilized in the diagnosis of 33 clinical entities. Diagnosis is based on template analysis, Bayesian statistical analysis, or a combination of the two. Of 97 cases of febrile illnesses with eruption, 62 were documented diagnoses within the universe of the program. Template analysis succeeded in 90% of these, Bayesian analysis produced the correct diagnosis in 81%, and in 55% it resulted in a list containing the clinician's diagnosis is most probable. The combined method yielded the clinician's diagnosis as most probable in 65% of the cases. The discrepancies between the clinician's diagnosis and the computer output have been analyzed and found to be due to inadequacies in the dermatologic data base.