Misdiagnosis of Heart symptoms

Misdiagnosis and Heart symptoms

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 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 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.

Dyspnea commonest symptom in Aortic regurgitation: The most common cause of aortic regurgitation is rheumatic fever and even the mitral valve may be affected. It may occur after infective endocarditis. Aortic regurgitation results in volume overload of the left ventricle and manifests as dyspnea which is the most commonest symptom. It maybe misdiagnosed as pulmonary regurgitation, mitral stenosis, aortic stenosis and patent ductus arteriosus. Infective endocarditis prophylaxis must be considered. Salt reduction, diuretics, digitalis help in relievinhg the condition.

Pitfalls in diagnosing palpitations: The symptom of palpitations is suggestive of cardiac arrhythmia but may have a non- cardiac cause. Palpitations not related to emotion, fever and exercise suggest an arrhythmia. There are many pitfalls in the diagnosis and mangaemnet of arrhythmias especially in the elderly where symptoms of infection can be masked. Palpitations associated with menopause maybe overlooked. Valvular lesions usually associated with rheumatic heart disease such as mitral stenosis and aortic incompetence may cause palpitations. The rare tumour, pheochromocytoma, presents with palpitations and postural tachycardia. The toxin from tick bites in dermatomes T!- 5 can also cause palpitations.

More about Misdiagnosis

• Causes of Heart symptoms
• Misdiagnosis Overview
• How Common is Misdiagnosis?
• Over-Diagnosed Diseases
• Under-Diagnosed Diseases
• Types of Misdiagnosis
• Wrong Type Misdiagnosis
• Why Does Misdiagnosis Occur?
• Difficult Diseases to Diagnose
• More premium medical articles ...

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