Mohammed T. Abou-Saleh

CLASSIFICATION OF DEMENTIA AND OTHER ORGANIC CONDITIONS 115schizophrenia in future versions of Chapter V. Their presencebreaks the rule (otherwise followed) that a clinical syndromeshould have only one place in the classification. They wereincluded because of a clinical demand for the convenience of beingable to specify both a syndrome and its cause by means of onlyone code. Their omission would cause no loss, while improvingthe properties of the ICD as a classification. Even desk-toprecording systems now have large capacities and increasinglysophisticated software that make them capable of handling manyentries for each clinical encounter or spell of patient care.REFERENCES1. WHO. The ICD-10 Classification of Mental and Behavioural Disorders.Clinical Descriptions and Diagnostic Guidelines. Geneva: World HealthOrganization, 1992.2. WHO. The ICD-10 Classification of Mental and Behavioural Disorders.Diagnostic Criteria for Research. Geneva: World Health Organization,1993.3. WHO. Multi-axial Presentation of ICD-10 for Use in Adult Psychiatry.Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997.