Mesothelioma Diagnosis
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If your healthcare provider suspects you have an asbestosrelated illness, he or she will usually start working on a diagnosis by identifying the possibility of asbestos exposure, by taking a thorough medical history. This would include looking at a person's medical, work, and environmental history. Next, your healthcare provider will perform a physical examination that may include one or more of the following:
- a chest x-ray
- pulmonary function exams
- a computer tomography (CT) scan
- a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan.
In the event that one or more of these tests identifies something suspicious, your healthcare provider will likely recommend a biopsy to confirm a diagnosis. A biopsy may be either a needle biopsy or an open biopsy.
In a needle biopsy, fluid is removed from lung and examined for cancerous cells. In an open biopsy, a surgeon will make a small incision in the chest wall or abdominal cavity and remove a sample of tissue to be examined for cancerous cells.
Once the fluid or tissue sample has been obtained, your healthcare provider will have a pathologist exam the sample in order to determine whether there is a type of cancer or disease present in the cells. If the pathologist determines the presence of a disease, your healthcare provider will recommend an appropriate course of treatment.
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