Misdiagnosis of Poor growth
Poor growth: Related Misdiagnoses
Mild worm infections undiagnosed in children: Human worm infestations, esp. threadworm, can be overlooked in some cases,
because it may cause only mild or even absent symptoms.
Although the most common symptoms are anal itch (or vaginal itch),
which are obvious in severe cases,
milder conditions may fail to be noticed in children.
In particular, it may interfere with the child's good night's sleep.
Threadworm is a condition to consider in children with symptoms such as bedwetting (enuresis),
difficulty sleeping, irritability, or other sleeping symptoms.
Visual inspection of the region can often see the threadworms, at night when they are active,
but they can also be missed this way, and multiple inspections can be warranted if worms are suspected.
See the introduction to threadworm.
Mesenteric adenitis misdiagnosed as appendicitis in children: Because appendicitis is one of the
more feared conditions for a child with abdominal pain, it can be over-diagnosed
(it can, of course, also fail to be diagnosed with fatal effect).
One of the most common misdiagnosed is for children with mesenteric adenitis
to be misdiagnosed as appendicitis.
Fortunately, thus misdiagnosis is usually less serious than the reverse failure to diagnose appendicitis.
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.
Children with migraine often misdiagnosed: A migraine often fails to be
correctly diagnosed in pediatric patients.
These patients are not the typical migraine sufferers, but migraines can also occur in children.
See misdiagnosis of migraine or introduction to migraine.
Coarctation of aorta in Turner's syndrome: Turner syndrome is a sex
chromosomal abnormality due to the presence of only one X chromosome occurring in
newborn females. The genetic profile is 45 chromosomes of XO karyotype. It is
characterized by retarded growth that leads to a small stature and frequent
infertility. Turner syndrome is diagnosed on the basis of genetic analysis of
chromosomes. This can be done prior to birth. Most individuals with Turner
syndrome require female hormone therapy to promote development of secondary
sexual characteristics and menstruation Most women with Turner syndrome can
live relatively normal lives. The prognosis for a person with Turner syndrome
is dependent on other conditions that may be present. Early surgical intervention is required to treat webbed neck. It is
also important to differentiate Turners syndrome from Noonan's syndrome which
has a few similar features. In Noonan's syndrome mental retardation is usually
present and the cardiac lesion associated is pulmonary stenosis which is not
the case in Turner's syndrome as mental retardation occurs very rarely and the
main cardiac pathology involved is coarctation of aorta.
Poor growth: Possibly Deadly Misdiagnoses
Some of the causes, which may potentially be dangerous or fatal
if left undiagnosed, may include:
More about Misdiagnosis
» Next page: FAILURE TO THRIVE (Algorithmic Diagnosis of Symptoms and Signs)
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