Misdiagnosis of Lung cancer
Misdiagnosis of Lung cancer
Lung cancer is often overlooked or delayed in diagnosis.
Lung cancer ranks 4th in malpractice lawsuits,
with the typical claim over failure to diagnose early enough.
Many suits argue a failure by the doctor to identify
a symptom and a failure to order tests such as chest x-rays.
Alternative diagnoses list for Lung cancer:
For a diagnosis of Lung cancer,
the following list of conditions
have been mentioned in sources
as possible alternative diagnoses
to consider during the diagnostic process for Lung cancer:
Diseases for which Lung cancer may be an alternative diagnosis
The other diseases for which Lung cancer
is listed as a possible alternative
diagnosis in their lists include:
Lung cancer: Hidden Causes Misdiagnosed?
Causes of Lung cancer may include these medical conditions:
- Metastatic lung cancer - many lung cancers result from metastasis of other cancers.
- more causes...»
Rare Types of Lung cancer:
Lung cancer Diagnosis: Book Excerpts
Lung cancer: Medical Mistakes
Related medical mistakes may include:
Lung cancer: Undiagnosed Conditions
Commonly undiagnosed conditions in related areas may include:
Common Misdiagnoses and Lung cancer
Chronic lung diseases hard to diagnose: Some of the chronic lung diseases
are difficult to diagnose.
Even the well-knowns conditions such as asthma or lung cancer often fail to be diagnosed early.
Some of the chronic lung diseases with diagnostic difficulties
include asthma (perhaps surprisingly), COPD, emphysema, chronic bronchitis, cystic fibrosis, mesothelioma,
smoker's cough, AIDS-related respiratory conditions (see AIDS), chronic pneumonia, and other respiratory diseases.
Rare possibilities include diseases like psittacosis (bird-related lung infection).
See other types of chronic lung diseases.
differentiate the causes of hemoptysis: Hemoptysis is the presence of blood in the
sputum. Hemoptysis is graded according to the volume of blood. It points out to
pathology in the lungs. The source of the bleeding is usually said to be the
bronchial artery. The condition requires immediate treatment. Other symptoms
associated along with hemoptysis must be looked into so as to categorize the
disease from each other. Acute hemoptysis may present along with breathlessness
in cases of pulmonary embolism and mitral stenosis which is a medical emergency.
It can also occur in cases of chronic cough such as tuberculosis,
bronchiectasis and lung carcinoma. A complete workup of the patient is required
to rule out cardiac cause of hemoptysis from that of lung pathology
Lung cancer: Rare Types
Rare types of medical disorders and diseases in related medical areas:
Failure To Diagnose Lung cancer
Failure to diagnose Lung cancer may be associated with the following:
- Many cases of lung cancer remain undiagnosed for long periods of time as the early stages of lung cancer often cause no symptoms. Diagnosis of lung cancer in the early stages usually only occurs when it is discovered in a routine chest CT scan or x-ray
- Many symptoms of lung cancer such as fever, weight loss and bone pain are rather non-specific which makes it more difficult to diagnose. Patients with other chronic illnesses are also less likely to have the lung cancer diagnosed despite the presence of symptoms. For example, bone pain in the elderly often does not ring any alarm bells
- Failure to diagnose lung cancer greatly impairs the prognosis
- Lung cancer is often misdiagnosed or undiagnosed due to the fact that if it does cause symptoms, the symptoms can vary considerably from patient to patient. There are no definitively characteristic symptoms for lung cancer. Only appropriate testing can allow a diagnosis
- Delayed diagnosis can lead to the spread of the cancer to other parts of the body (brain, bone, liver, adrenal gland) which can lead to more serious symptoms such as nerve and muscle problems, bone pain, confusion, fits and an enlarged liver
- Lung cancer is considered particularly lethal as the lack of early symptoms usually means diagnosis does not occur until the later stages of the cancer
- Lung cancer is often not considered as a possible diagnosis in symptomatic people who don't smoke due to the strong association of smoking as a cause of lung cancer
- Another relatively common cause of undiagnosed or delayed diagnosis of lung cancer is the misinterpretation of chest x-rays by either the radiologist or the primary care physician. Sometimes reports are lost or doctor fail to act on the information or patients fail to attend a follow-up visit
- Sometimes, a diagnosis of lung cancer is only made at autopsy after a person has died - this is more likely in older people.
Notes On Hidden Causes Of Lung cancer
The following may be hidden causes of Lung cancer:
- Smoking is considered the major risk factor in the development of lung disease with passive smoking also implicated
- Air pollution from factories, vehicles, power plants and other sources are also risk factors for the development of lung cancer
- Other factors that increase the risk of lung cancer is: asbestos exposure, exposure to carcinogens, radon exposure, tuberculosis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and occupational exposure to aromatic hydrocarbons, nickel, arsenic, arsenic, iron oxides and chromium
- Increasing evidence suggests the prior lung disease may be a risk factor for developing lung cancer. Thus, patients with lung diseases such as tuberculosis, emphysema, chronic bronchitis face a greater risk of developing lung cancer. Asthma and pneumonia may also increase the risk but to a lesser degree
- There is ongoing research and debate to establish whether there is any link between allergy-related diseases such as hayfever. Some studies indicate that allergies increase the risk of lung cancer, other indicate that allergies protect again lung cancer and yet others suggest that there is no link at all
- Exposure to certain substances such as asbestos may occur many years prior to the development of the lung cancer. A careful analysis of the person's history may determine the source of exposure which may have occurred through something as seemingly harmless as renovating an old house. Asbestos may have been present in the building material of the old house
- A person who has already had lung cancer faces an increased risk of developing it again
Complications Of Misdiagnosis Of Lung cancer
The following may be complications of misdiagnosis of Lung cancer:
- Respiratory problems (cough, shortness of breath and wheezing) caused by lung cancer may be misdiagnosed as a respiratory infectious disease such as tuberculosis, bronchitis or pneumonia. The respiratory complaints have also been misdiagnosed as asthmatic bronchitis and rhinitis
- Coughing associated with lung cancer is often misdiagnosed as a respiratory infection or even completely dismissed as harmless
- Paraneoplastic syndromes that occur as a complication of lung cancer often produce misleading symptoms that make diagnosis more difficult. Paraneoplastic syndromes include hypercalcemia, Cushing's syndrome, carcinoid syndrome, dermatomyositis, progressive vision loss, cerebellar degeneration and encephalitis
Medical news summaries about misdiagnosis of Lung cancer:
The following medical news items
are relevant to misdiagnosis of Lung cancer:
General Misdiagnosis Articles
Read these general articles with an overview of misdiagnosis issues.
About misdiagnosis:
When checking for a misdiagnosis of Lung cancer
or confirming a diagnosis of Lung cancer,
it is useful to consider what other
medical conditions might be possible misdiagnoses or other alternative
conditions relevant to diagnosis.
These alternate diagnoses of Lung cancer may already have
been considered by your doctor or may need to be considered as possible
alternative diagnoses or candidates for misdiagnosis of Lung cancer.
For a general overview of misdiagnosis issues for all diseases,
see Overview of Misdiagnosis.
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