Mesothelioma Diagnosis

HealthSavvy Sign In | In order to make a diagnosis of mesothelioma, the healthcare provider will begin with a review of the patient's medical history, including any history of asbestos exposure. He or she will then perform a complete physical examination to look for signs or symptoms of mesothelioma. The doctor may also order some preliminary tests to rule out other, more common conditions. These tests can include x-rays of the chest or abdomen and lung function tests.If the doctor suspects mesothelioma after the history and physical exam, he or she may order a number of tests to help make a diagnosis.CT Scan MRI Biopsy Thoracoscopy Peritoneoscopy Surgery. A CT (or CAT) scan or an MRI may also be useful in making a diagnosis. A CT scan is a series of detailed pictures of areas inside the body created by a computer linked to an x-ray machine. In an MRI, a powerful magnet linked to a computer is used to make detailed pictures of areas inside the body. These pictures are viewed on a monitor and can also be printed. function createlink(url, title, index ) { var p=document.createElement("P"); p.setAttribute("onclick", "clickAnchor(event)" ); setClass( p, "chapterList" ); var a = document.createElement( "a"); a.style.color = "white"; var c = url.replace(/'/g, "'"); a.setAttribute("href", c ); a.innerHTML = title; p.appendChild( a ); return p; } function updateLinks() { var toc = document.getElementById("chapterTOC"); toc.innerHTML = ""; var p; p = createlink("#chapter_0","Mesothelioma Diagnosis: An Overview", status.index ); toc.appendChild( p ); p = createlink("#chapter_1","Tests and Procedures", status.index ); toc.appendChild( p ); p = createlink("/mesothelioma/mesothelioma-diagnosis-p2.html#chapter_2","Mesothelioma Diagnosis and Staging", status.index ); toc.appendChild( p ); } updateLinks(); function addToolbarButton(txt,divclass,hrefdest,onclickfunc,title,id) { var tb = document.getElementById("articleToolbar"); var td = document.createElement("TD"); if(id) td.setAttribute("id",id); var d = document.createElement("div"); setClass(d,divclass); d.onclick = function(e){ if (!onclickfunc||onclickfunc(e)!=false) {window.open(hrefdest,"_blank","");}}; d.setAttribute("title", title ); var href = document.createElement("A"); href.setAttribute("href", hrefdest ); href.onclick = onclickfunc; href.setAttribute("title", title ); href.innerHTML = txt; href.target = "_blank"; td.appendChild( d ); td.appendChild( href ); tb.appendChild(td); } function savvyClick(event) { createCookie("articleReferer",window.location + "|Mesothelioma Diagnosis",0,".emedtv.com"); urchinTracker("/savvyclick/http://mesothelioma.emedtv.com/mesothelioma/mesothelioma-diagnosis.html"); var sc=readCookie("SAVVYLOGIN"); if (sc) { savvyAddTopic("Mesothelioma"); } else { grayWindow(); $('#logintext').html('Sign in to your HealthSavvy account to add this topic:'); document.forms['signinform1'].action='/savvy/loginAddTopicAndReturn.html'; document.forms['signinform1'].topicName="Mesothelioma"; domenu(event,'logininfo',0,-100,true,true,true); $('#email1').focus(); } return false;} function savvyAddTopic(str) { $.ajax({ url: "/savvy/ajaxAddTopic.txt?topic=Mesothelioma", success: function(data){if (data.substring(0,2)=="OK") {data = data.substring(2, data.length);$("#hs_savvy_favorite").css("display","none");}showMessageBox(data); }}); } function createToolbar() {var st=readCookie("SAVVYTOPCIS");if (!st || st.indexOf("|Mesothelioma|")==-1) {addToolbarButton("HealthSavvy", "tb_hsicon tool_sp", "#", savvyClick, "HealthSavvy","hs_savvy_favorite");} addToolbarButton("Share", "tb_face tool_sp", "http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=http%3a%2f%2fmesothelioma.emedtv.com%2fmesothelioma%2fmesothelioma-diagnosis.html&t=Mesothelioma+Diagnosis", function() {urchinTracker("/facebookshare/http://mesothelioma.emedtv.com/mesothelioma/mesothelioma-diagnosis.html");}, "Share on Facebook",null); addToolbarButton( "Share", "tb_twit tool_sp", "http://www.emedtv.com/twittershare.html?status=Currently+reading+Mesothelioma+Diagnosis+on+eMedTV%3a+http%3a%2f%2fmesothelioma.emedtv.com%2fmesothelioma%2fmesothelioma-diagnosis.html", function() {urchinTracker("/twittershare/http://mesothelioma.emedtv.com/mesothelioma/mesothelioma-diagnosis.html");}, "Share on Twitter",null); addToolbarButton( "Email","tb_mail tool_sp", "#", function(event) {emailPage(event);return false;}, "Email Article",null); if ( window.external && typeof(window.external.AddFavorite) != "undefined" ) { addToolbarButton( "Add", "tb_favorite tool_sp", "#", function(event) {bookmarkPage(event);return false;}, "Bookmark Article",null); } addToolbarButton( "Print","tb_print tool_sp", "#", function(event) {printPage(event);return false;}, "Print Article",null); } createToolbar(); Written by/reviewed by: Arthur Schoenstadt, MD Last reviewed by: Arthur Schoenstadt, MD var s = "Last" + " updated/reviewed: "; var lm = document.getElementById("lastmodified"); if ( lm ) { s += "October 10, 2008"; lm.innerHTML = s; }

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