The Specific Treatment of Lobar Pneumonia

A puzzling omission in a great medical textbook edited by a pioneer of controlled trials

“…In addition to the reports already cited, Cecil's methodological awareness is clear in the extensive review of treatment for lobar pneumonia which he delivered as the 12th Mellon Lecture at the Society for Biological Research of the University of Pittsburgh. 9 In the published version of the lecture, Cecil refers not only to the methods he had used to avoid allocation bias in his clinical trials, but also makes clear that he is aware of the need to study sufficiently large numbers of patients. Thus, commenting on a subgroup analysis, he writes: 'Unfortunately, the number of patients treated was not sufficiently large to furnish reliable statistical evidence' (p 316).…”