Challenges of Retrospective Methodology in Studying Small Case Series of Rare and Very Rare Urological Events

Abstract

Rare and very rare genitourinary diseases, including the rare clinical events resulting from unusual scenarios of well-known pathologies, are usually presented as case reports without the presence of global consensus or guidelines for diagnosis or management. However, the modern research has its configured methodology, where the most suitable epidemiological methods for studying of the rare diseases and events are the retrospective study designs. A lot of challenges can be encountered during dealing with these cases including difficult data collection, small sample sizes, inability to apply standardized diagnostic tools, changes of definitions, as well as the limited statistical analyses and low chances of research publication in reputational journals. However, there are still many strategies that could be applied to maximize the gain from presentation of these events. Relevant conjugation of these events under representative titles and introduction of a few methodological adjustments may alleviate many of challenges of retrospective epidemiological studying. The current method case represents the project “Experience of a Tertiary-Level Urology Center in the Clinical Urological Events of Rare and Very Rare Incidence” as a model through which most of these challenges and their counteracting strategies have been addressed.

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