Table 5 Certainty and uncertainty
From: How is organ transplantation depicted in internal medicine and transplantation journals
Sources of uncertainty | "The immediate implications of the data on ABO-incompatible heart transplantation in infants are uncertain" [71]. |
"Information regarding their prognosis (i.e., predicted survival without transplant and recommendations for timing of listing are starting to emerge, although considerable uncertainty remains" [72]. | |
"Some patients may prefer early resolution of uncertainty to delay, especially if knowing the outcome of the allocation process changes their time horizon with respect to financial decisions" [61]. | |
Sources of certainty | "There are a number of ways to approach diagnosis of the noncompliance syndrome, but the only certainty comes from direct patient admission of nonadherence to the prescribed immunosuppression" [74]. |
"Therefore, whereas 20 years ago death was a near certainty without a transplant, and any length of survival after heart transplantation was regarded as a bonus, in the present era some patients potentially have a similar prognosis with alternative treatments" [63]. |