Saturday, November 21, 2009

Diagnosis Of Mesothelioma - A Tricky But Very Essential Affair

By Heidi Wingrain

Mesothelioma diagnosis can be done wrongly if the physician is not an expert and experienced in the field. There are main three factor that may hinder an exact and speedy diagnosis mesothelioma. The first thing is that the cancer is found rarely and as a consequence, the number of doctors and well equipped cancer centers are very less. The second factor is that the symptoms like shortness of breath and unceasing cough are found in other diseases also. For example, influenza and pneumonia. The third factor is that the three different types of mesothelioma cancers have almost similar symptoms confusing the doctors. A misdiagnosis may put the life of the patient in danger. Also mesothelioma symptoms appear very late making the diagnosis and subsequent treatment less useful.

Most often it happens that the patient goes to the doctor for some check ups related to other diseases and the cancer is detected. If they are doubtful, physicians may start diagnosis mesothelioma by thoroughly examining the patient's work and health history. The work history itself can testify the disease in many cases and a thorough diagnosis confirms the doubt.

As a primary step in mesothelioma detection, imaging tests like MRI and CT scan and X-ray of the chest and abdomen are conducted. But these tests cannot confirm cancerous growths without doubt. Additional lung tests are conducted in many cases.

Doctors employ a typical test called thoracoscopy using an instrument called the thoracoscope to look into the chest cavity through a cut made between two ribs. For this, a local anesthetic is used. The same way, doctors apply another test named petoneoscopy with a peculiar tool named peritoneoscope to check the abdomen for any unusual growth. Biopsy, which the most modern confirmative tests of cancer, confirms the worst fears. A small piece of the suspicious tissue is removed and checked under the microscope to analyze whether any cancer cells exist.

The most unfortunate fact regarding mesothelioma is that the cancer is diagnosed very late, thus making the chances of a cure, at times even survival a remote possibility. Hence the best possible thing to do for a person who has been under asbestos exposure at any point of time in life is to go for periodic check ups. If at doubt the doctor can conduct urgent diagnosis mesothelioma thus enhancing the chances of a cure or extension of life significantly.

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