[Diagnosis and therapy in daily practice].

Diagnosis and treatment are two essential elements of medical practice. For obvious reasons, it is often impossible to make a definite diagnosis during the initial work-up. This raises the problem of how extensive diagnostic procedures should be to initiate adequate treatment. It is evident that the professional experience of a physician exerts a great influence on therapeutic measures instituted in the private office or in the hospital. Consequently, in certain instances, treatment may be started without a definite diagnosis. Nevertheless, the axiom "no treatment without prior diagnosis" remains a basic principle of medicine.