Misdiagnosis of Jaundice
Alternative diagnoses list for Jaundice:
For a diagnosis of Jaundice,
the following list of conditions
have been mentioned in sources
as possible alternative diagnoses
to consider during the diagnostic process for Jaundice:
Diseases for which Jaundice may be an alternative diagnosis
The other diseases for which Jaundice
is listed as a possible alternative
diagnosis in their lists include:
Jaundice: Hidden Causes Misdiagnosed?
Causes of Jaundice may include these medical conditions:
Jaundice Diagnosis: Book Excerpts
Common Misdiagnoses and Jaundice
Unnecessary hysterectomies due to undiagnosed bleeding disorder in women: The bleeding disorder
called Von Willebrand's disease is quite common in women, but often fails to be correctly diagnosed.
Women with the condition tend to have heavy periods, since they actually have a bleeding disorder.
Severe afflictions may result in the women receiving a hysterectomy unnecessarily, when the
underlying cause has not been identified.
See the introduction to Von Willebrand's disease and bleeding disorder.
Rare undiagnosed iron disorder causes various severe conditions: The rare "iron overload" disorder, hemochromatosis,
can cause a variety of symptoms and result in various severe conditions that mimic several
of the big name medical conditions.
However, since it is quite rare (about 1 in 200 to 1 in 300), it may go undiagnosed,
and indeed doctors may not even test for it.
It can damage the pancreas, causing pancreatitis, leading to diabetes-like symptoms.
It can damage the liver, leading to liver symptoms such as jaundice.
Hemochromoatis can also damage the joints, giving the appearance of arthritis.
The heart is another organ that excess iron can damage.
Fortunately, this condition has a relatively simple treatment, and these complications can
often be reversed by treatment of the iron overload causing them.
See introduction to hemochromatosis.
Rare copper disease insidious and misdiagnosed: Wilson's disease (a form of copper overload) is a rare disorder that
has a slow and insidious onset that can often fail to be diagnosed.
Copper builds up in the liver and in the brain,
usually in the late childhood, teens, or 20's.
Brain changes can lead to a variety of neurological and psychological type symptoms,
such as speech symptoms, language difficulty, behavioral symptoms, and various others.
Possible misdiagnoses include depression, behavioral disorders, schizophrenia,
mental retardation, learning difficulty, anxiety disorders,
hysteria, and other psychological disorders.
Physical symptoms related to liver damage, such as jaundice, often appear later,
leading to the delayed diagnosis.
See overview of Wilson's disease.
Psoriasis often undiagnosed cause of skin symptoms in children: Children who suffer
from the skin disorder called psoriasis can often go undiagnosed.
The main problem is that psoriasis is rare in children, and not often
seen by physicians for this reason.
children may receive treatment for fungal skin infections.
See misdiagnosis of psoriasis or symptoms of psoriasis.
Chronic liver disease often undiagnosed: One study reported that 50% of patients
with a chronic liver disease remain undiagnosed by their primary physician.
The reasons are multifactorial.
Possible conditions include chronic hepatitis, cirrhosis of the liver, hemochromatosis,
or other types of liver condition.
See introduction to liver disease or misdiagnosis of liver disease.
Pancreatic cancer often diagnosed too late: Pancreatic cancer has the reputation of being one of the "worst" cancers, because its prognosis is often poor due to delayed diagnosis. Early stage pancreatic cancer has no symptoms or mild symptoms. The onset of symptoms such as abdominal pain or jaundice is often a sign of late pancreatic cancer. Thus, failure to diagnose the condition due to its inherent nature makes pancreatic cancer misdiagnosis a fatal problem.
Choledochal cyst not to be overlooked: Choledochal cysts are congenital cystic dilatations
of the hepatobiliary tree and usually presents before 16 years of age. Symptoms
may be that of cholangitis, jaundice, pancreatitis and stone formation. Infants
may present with an intra-abdominal mass. In countries where hydatid disease is
endemic, this rare condition may be overlooked. Delay in the treatment of
choledochal cyst maybe due to misdiagnosis as hepatitis, incomplete
investigation of the abdominal pain. Early diagnosis is preferred as the cyst
needs to be completely excised because of the risk of the cyst turning
malignant
Budd Chiari syndrome prognosis poor if untreated: Budd Chiari syndrome is an uncommon condition
which occurs in individuals in the 3rd or 4th decade due
to obstruction to the venous outflow in the hepatic vein. Patients present with
ascites, abdominal pain more so in the right upper quadrant along with jaundice.
Most of the patients have an underlying thrombotic pathology which leads to the
obstruction. It must be distinguished from other conditions which present with
similar symptoms of jaundice and upper abdominal pain. A thorough abdominal work
up is needed so as to rule out other causes such as liver abscess, liver
cirrhosis, liver metastasis and right heart failure. Prognosis is poor in cases
where the cause of the obstruction is not determined and if life long anticoagulation is not provided. Younger patients have a
better prognosis.
Weil's disease has poor outcome in severe cases: Leptospirosis( Weil's disesase) is a zoonotic
condition which occurs due to the entry of spirochetes called leptospira. Transmission occurs by direct contact with the body fluid
of an acutely infected animal or by exposure to soil or fresh water
contaminated with the urine of an animal that is a chronic carrier. The
prognosis for patients with mild infection is very good. More severe have a
much poorer outcome. Extremes of age can result in more significant disease.
The relatively poor resilience of elderly people produces a high mortality from
Weil disease. Leptospirosis can be misdiagnosed as enteric fever, encephalitis
or HIV infection. Government officials, public health workers, and health care
workers should educate all populations at risk about proper preventative
measures. Patients with severe disease need to remain in a hospitalized setting
until adequate resolution of organ failure and clinical infection occurs.
Medical news summaries about misdiagnosis of Jaundice:
The following medical news items
are relevant to misdiagnosis of Jaundice:
General Misdiagnosis Articles
Read these general articles with an overview of misdiagnosis issues.
About misdiagnosis:
When checking for a misdiagnosis of Jaundice
or confirming a diagnosis of Jaundice,
it is useful to consider what other
medical conditions might be possible misdiagnoses or other alternative
conditions relevant to diagnosis.
These alternate diagnoses of Jaundice may already have
been considered by your doctor or may need to be considered as possible
alternative diagnoses or candidates for misdiagnosis of Jaundice.
For a general overview of misdiagnosis issues for all diseases,
see Overview of Misdiagnosis.
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