Patient Consent

Under Pakistan Heart Journal confidentiality and patients consent policy, studies including human subjects must attain informed consent for the presentation of personal characteristics and it must be mentioned in the manuscript. Otherwise, the patient identity must be fully anonymized i.e. the data must be rendered in such a manner that not even the patient could identify the details but we prefer patient consent more as Anonymisation might lead to loss of evidence and essence of the case. 

Children or Patients with Inabilities: For Children under 18 years of age or patients lacking the mental or physical capacity to understand the motive behind the publication only then consent can be taken from parents or guardians. It is very important to assure if the individual is comfortable with the publication or not, as the child might not feel good about the disclosure of his/her personal details in the future. To avoid such conditions, the author must be well aware of the case instincts and keep the identity concealed.

Case Images: For images like X-rays, ultrasound, pathological slides, multimedia files or the images of organs/parts of the body do not require consent for publication. The consent will only be required in case of presentation identifiable images or details.

Image Anonymization: We ensure that images are cropped appropriately presenting only the required clinical feature related to the study. The obscured images with hidden or blurred eyes are not preferred as it may be indicative of misconduct or encounter to publish the data without the permission of the patient.  

Consent Form: The identifying information must be avoided, if in case such information is necessary and need to displayed, authors are requested to provide signed consent from the patient confirming the use as per the Consent Form for Publication in Pakistan Heart Journal.