One patient, two case reports: Journal retracts the latter

A journal has retracted a case report after discovering it had already been reported.

The paper — about an “extremely rare” instance where a fetus was diagnosed with both a form of dwarfism and a chromosomal condition known as Klinefelter syndrome — was retracted from Case Reports in Obstetrics and Gynecology (CROG).

The first author of the paper told us the report was the result of a “big misunderstanding” between her and a former colleague, and she alerted the journal as soon as she noticed the case had already been reported in BMC Pediatrics.

Here’s the retraction notice for the paper:

The article titled “Prenatal Diagnosis of Concurrent Achondroplasia and Klinefelter Syndrome” [1] has been retracted as the same case report was found to have been presented in the following previously published article: “Achondroplasia with 47, xxy karyotype: A case report of the neonatal diagnosis of an extremely unusual association,” BMC Pediatrics 2012, 12:88. The article has also been published without the consent of Dr. Cristina Martinez-Payo. The first author, Dr. Esther Perez-Carbajo, assumes full responsibility.

According to Thomson Reuters Web of Science, the 2016 CROG paper is yet to be cited, and the 2012 BMC Pediatrics paper has so far been cited once.

Esther Pérez Carbajo, the first author of the retracted case report based at the Hospital Universitario Infanta Elena in Madrid, Spain, said she wanted to apologize to Martinez-Payo:

…she didn’t know I keep on trying to publish this case and at the same time, I didn’t know that Dr. Ros had already published it.

Carbajo emphasized that her report was an “original article,” as she didn’t copy the BMC Pediatrics paper; instead her version presented the case from a gynecologic and “pediatric” point of view. She told us she encountered the case while on a fellowship with Martinez-Payo:

…she suspected the pathology and I followed the case until the delivery, so I had a complete involvement in the case.

Carbajo, however, is not listed among the authors on the BMC Pediatrics paper describing the case. The CROG paper also lists four authors besides Carbajo and Martinez-Payo who are not listed on the BMC Pediatrics paper, either.

Carbajo added:

[Then] I finished my fellowship and I move to another Hospital and I keep on trying to published it because I found it very interesting from a prenatal point of view.

She ended:

I as[s]ume my mistake and I would like to apologize Dr. Martinez Payo, that was totally outside of this problem. I mentioned her as author because she managed brilliantly the case.

Cristina Martínez-Payo — co-author of both the CROG and BMC Pediatrics papers — based at the Hospital Puerta De Hierro in Madrid, Spain, told us: 

This event has cost me… [great] dissatisfaction

Like Retraction Watch? Consider making a tax-deductible contribution to support our growth. You can also follow us on Twitter, like us on Facebook, add us to your RSS reader, sign up on our homepage for an email every time there’s a new post, or subscribe to our new daily digest. Click here to review our Comments Policy. For a sneak peek at what we’re working on, click here.