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PO253 Neurology: the final frontier – cases from the 24th century

Background In the 50 years since Star Trek’s 1966 debut, the show has predicted technological and social changes which define modern life. But what might this lens into the 24th Century tell us about the future of medicine? In an environment largely free of cancer and the chronic diseases which dominate our medical landscape, which conditions still challenge the doctors of Starfleet? Methods We analysed all 176 episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation for medical events, which were present in 124 (70.5%) of episodes. Cases were categorised by aetiology and organ system, partly based on existing literature comparing fictional and real caseloads. Results ‘Neurology’ was the most common category of illness, depicted in 18.2% of cases, followed by trauma (17.4%) and infectious disease (9.5%). Compared with respiratory medicine (1.2%), cardiology (2.5%), and gastroenterology (0.8%), neurology truly seems to be the final frontier of medicine. Conclusion Diseases of organ systems less ‘mystical’ than the brain in popular imagination have largely been solved by the 24th Century by scientific advancement. Neurological conditions will continue to captivate and offer satisfying diagnostic puzzles for the next few centuries at least.