Mesothelioma Lung Diseases

Signs, Symptoms and Management of Mesothelioma

By definition mesothelioma is a malignant type of tumor occurring in the lining tissue of the any part of the body cavities including peritoneal cavity, pericardial cavity, or in the pleural cavity. The most important thing regarding these tumors is the excessive aggressive behavior of them. Most of the time, they spread fast and cause death.

Type of mesothelioma & classification of mesothelioma

There are two main type of mesothelioma according to the presentation. One is the mesothelioma associated with lung and other type is the mesothelioma associated with the abdomen. So, they can be classified according to the site of presentation as pulmonary or abdominal mesothelioma.
However, for the management purposes, we have to use TNM classification of tumors. That measures the severity of the cancer.  If you have highly malignant tumor, you will see a high score in TNM classification.

Signs and Symptoms of mesothelioma in the lung

Mesothelioma in lung is pleural in origin is the commonest type of mesothelioma. It can grow faster and spread in to whole lung soon.

Mesothelioma in the lung is a very important type of tumor which should be differentiated by the other type of both benign and malignant forms of the tumors. Because the management plan is vary according to the condition you have.

The mesothelioma in the lung is presented with the several symptoms
1. Unexplained weight loss
2. Painful cough
3. Pain in the rib cage
4. Shortness of the breath
5. Skin nodules

If you have above symptoms and signs you we have to suspect the mesothelioma. But, this is not only the symptom basis, but also it is totally depends on the history of exposure to the carcinogenic substances like Asbestos. Also there may be number of causes in addition to the Asbestos exposure. But this is the most common cause of mesothelioma world wide.

As there are number of conditions associated with lung like Tuberculosis, Hypersensitive pneumonitis, we have to move on to the throw investigation including blood analyzing test, X ray and other imaging techniques, and all other relevant investigation to come to a confirmatory diagnosis.

Associated factors for mesothelioma

As mentioned above, this shows a high prevalence with the past exposure to the Asbestos. Therefore people works in industrial field which involves in construction and other types of asbestos exposure will be in high risk.In addition to that, not as other types of lung cancers, this will not show a association with the smoking unbelievably.

Other types of tumors in the lung

In addition to the mesothelioma there are number of benign and malignant lung tumors. There may be purely in lung origin or originated in somewhere else. However, it is very important to differentiate them from mesothelioma.

Diagnosis of mesothelioma

Diagnosis of mesothelioma is done by the help of several important steps by the doctors. There the most important component of the procedure of the diagnosis of mesothelioma is the history. If the history suggest a frequent exposure to the Asbestos it may be helpful in differentiating the mesothelioma from other Cancers of the lung and the benign conditions.

In additions to the history examination is also play a main role. Your doctor will do relevant respiratory system examination. In addition to that, there is an important role in doing the other system examination. It may be helpful to exclude mesothelioma. This is because; the primary tumor in any other site may indicate that it is originated from somewhere away from the lung.

 Role of the investigations for the mesothelioma is also important. The mostly using test here is the chest X ray (CXR). It will show the appearance of the problem. Also it will help to identify the X-ray patterns on mesothelioma.

Cytology is done to get the histological details of the condition.

There for History, Physical examination, CXR investigations and Cytology are important in diagnosing the mesothelioma.

Radiological features of mesothelioma

Chest X ray is the basic and fundamental investigation in mesothelioma. But the CT will give more information regarding the problem.  Therefore, it is necessary to do a CT in addition to the CXR.
The CXR may show one sided thickening of the pleura of the lung. Pleural effusion is common. You can see several lesions on the pleura which are nodular. There may be extension of the condition to the pericardium.

Law regarding the Mesothelioma

In the legal sector there are number of problems occurred due to the Mesothelioma and the Asbestos exposure. Lawyers give large attention on mesothelioma related problems. According to the history there are number of cases which have compensated with millions of money.

If you have a problem related to mesothelioma or Asbestos related adverse effects, please contact a mesothelioma lawyer.