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The clinical case report is a popular genre in medical writing. While authors and editors have debated the justification for the clinical case report, few have attempted to examine the long history of this genre in medical literature. By reviewing selected literature and presenting and discussing excerpts of clinical case reports from Egyptian antiquity to the 20th century, we illustrate the presence of the genre in medical science and how its form developed. Central features of the clinical case report in different time periods are discussed, including its main components, structure, style and author presence.