ABSTRACT
An important part of the medical literature consists of reports of series of cases. Typically, a series has been accumulated over time and consists of all patients meeting certain criteria over a specified interval. Ordinarily, if assessing an intervention, the report entails comparison — either explicit, between subclasses in the series, or implicit, between the whole series and ordinary expectations and experience. Interpretation of the series report depends on the authors clarity about the definitions actually applied, the integrity of counting (who was excluded and why), and the consistency of diagnosis, outcome measurement, and other factors. In addition, such variables as age, parity, and stage of disease may influence outcomes; thus, information concerning these factors may be needed for confident interpretation of the series. Acceptance of a reported series result at face value is, therefore, unlikely to be justified, and interpretation typically calls for analysis. If the necessary ancillary information is not reported, the implications of the results may remain obscure.
