Misdiagnosed pleural mesothelioma

Let's take the scenario of a seventy years old man who has a smoke and otherwise fairly healthy, and approached the local physician with complaints of persistent cough, chest tightness and weight loss. Other symptoms may include difficulty swallowing and loss of appetite. The doctor has several ways of diagnosis, but pleural mesothelioma, a deadly cancer that originates in the lining of the lungs, enveloping, can not be considered.

There are several reasons for this. Recognition of pleural mesothelioma as a separate entity disease began, as recently in the 1960s. Currently, only about 3,000 cases are reported annually in the U.S.. Many doctors can not see a single case during their careers. The symptoms are similar to many less suffering. The only general result is that the disease is more common in the Pacific and Mid-Atlantic States seems. It is also known that the main cause of pleural> Mesothelioma asbestos exposure. But how much contact with the material causes of the disease remains unclear. The family of a worker to asbestos are at risk from the dust at home, he carries on his body and clothes.

This form of cancer has a long latency period and symptoms only occur twenty to forty or more years after exposure to asbestos. This spoils the possibility of a correct diagnosis.

Once the doctor removes the opportunities for other diseases andfollows the line of pleural mesothelioma, the patient is in a series of tests and imaging techniques like X-ray and CT-subject study. Accumulation of fluid in the thoracic cavity is an indicator, but not conclusive. Confirmation can be obtained with a pleura (pleura is the membrane of the lung) biopsy with an electron microscope.

Since pleural mesothelioma, an aggressive cancer, early detection and immediate implementation is appropriateManagement are of crucial importance. The possibility of a physician diagnosis or misdiagnosis of mesothelioma that fails sued for medical malpractice can not be completely ruled out. But as a rule, the applicable law is asbestos product liability.

It is generally accepted that pleural mesothelioma, a disease that is difficult to diagnose. To help the doctor, the patient should immediately inform him at the beginning of the exposure to asbestos, if any.

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