For a diagnosis of Atrial Fibrillation, the following list of conditions have been mentioned in sources as possible alternative diagnoses to consider during the diagnostic process for Atrial Fibrillation:
The other diseases for which Atrial Fibrillation is listed as a possible alternative diagnosis in their lists include:
Causes of Atrial Fibrillation may include these medical conditions:
Related medical mistakes may include:
Commonly undiagnosed conditions in related areas may include:
Heart attacks can be undiagnosed: Although the most severe symptoms of heart attack are hard to miss, there are varying degrees of severity. It is altogether too common for people to die from undiagnosed heart attack, or from delaying too long to call for emergency help. The prognosis for treatment is far better for patients treated in the early stages of a heart attack. The most common misdiagnoses include heartburn, or other less severe causes of chest pain. See the introduction to heart attack and the symptoms of heart attack.
Heart attacks can be overdiagnosed: Although many people die from heart attacks, there are also many cases where people fear that they have a heart attack, but actually have something milder. Some of the conditions which may be causes of chest pain, causing fear of a heart attack, including an anxiety attack, heartburn, and so on. See the causes of chest pain and the symptoms of heart attack.
Rare heart condition often undiagnosed: The rare heart condition called long QT syndrome can lead to episodes of palpitations and rapid heartbeat. In rare cases, this undiagnosed condition can be fatal. It should be considered for any unexplained heart rhythm abnormality.
Heart attack can be over-diagnosed: Although heart attack is often undiagnosed, leading to fatality, it can also be over-diagnosed. People become concerned that a condition is a heart attack, whereas there are various less dangerous possibilities. After all, there are numerous causes of chest pain. Some of the common conditions where a person may become concerned about a possible heart attack include a panic attack (which often has both chest pain and difficulty breathing), and heartburn/reflux type conditions. Nevertheless, chest pain itself can be a potentially life-threatening symptoms, and needs immediate professional attention.
Blood pressure cuffs misdiagnose hypertension in children: One known misdiagnosis issue with hyperension, arises in relation to the simple equipment used to test blood pressure. The "cuff" around the arm to measure blood pressure can simply be too small to accurately test a child's blood pressure. This can lead to an incorrect diagnosis of a child with hypertension. The problem even has a name unofficially: "small cuff syndrome". See misdiagnosis of hypertension.
Hypertension misdiagnosis common in children: Hypertension is often misdiagnosed in adults (see misdiagnosis of hypertension), but its misdiagnosis is even more likely in children. Some of the symptoms of hypertension that can be overlooked include chest pain, headaches, abdominal pain, etc. See symptoms of hypertension or misdiagnosis of hypertension.
Acute mesenteric ischemia: Acute mesenteric ischemia is a condition which occurs due to the occlusion of the mesenteric vessels by an emboli or thrombus.It is not easily diagnosed by the doctor and can be missed easily as the symptoms are vague and non-specific and hence the diagnosis is poor.It usually occurs in patients who are 50 years of age,younger patients with history of atrial fibrillation,women on oral contraceptive pills and other hypercoaguble states.The clinical presentation is that of abrupt onset of moderate to severe diffuse abdominal pain(abdominal angina)following a meal along with anorexia,nausea,vomiting.Angiography is the investigation of choice in this condition.Recognition of the case before permanent tissue damage is the key to patient survival in these cases.
Rare types of medical disorders and diseases in related medical areas:
Read these general articles with an overview of misdiagnosis issues.
When checking for a misdiagnosis of Atrial Fibrillation or confirming a diagnosis of Atrial Fibrillation, it is useful to consider what other medical conditions might be possible misdiagnoses or other alternative conditions relevant to diagnosis. These alternate diagnoses of Atrial Fibrillation may already have been considered by your doctor or may need to be considered as possible alternative diagnoses or candidates for misdiagnosis of Atrial Fibrillation. For a general overview of misdiagnosis issues for all diseases, see Overview of Misdiagnosis.
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