Doctors at a Northern California hospital, concerned that a 40-year-old woman with sky-high blood pressure and confusion might have a blood clot, order a CT scan of her lungs. To their surprise, the scan reveals not a clot but large cancers in both breasts that have spread throughout her body. Had they done a simple physical exam of the womans chest, they would have been able to feel the tumors. So would the doctors who saw her during several hospitalizations over the previous two years, when the cancer might have been more easily treated. ------- as a senior medical student i taught physical exam and history taking to young med students. its still true that the diagnosis can usually be made with a thorough history AND physical exam.
Posted on: Wed, 25 Jun 2014 20:11:01 +0000
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