diagnosis

diagnosis,

determination of the nature of a disease or ailment. A clinical diagnosis is based on the medical history and physical examination of the patient: it may be confirmed with X-Rays, CAT Scans (Computerized Axial Tomography), MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging), and other laboratory tests. Diagnosis by physical examination includes ascertaining temperature, pulse, and blood pressure and involves the use of palpation, to detect enlarged organs and other abnormalities; tapping, to delineate some of the internal organs; and listening, to interpret sounds from organs such as the heart and lungs. Instruments that facilitate physical examination include the sphygmomanometer for blood pressure; the stethoscopestethoscope
[Gr.,=chest viewer], instrument that enables the physican to hear the sounds made by the heart, the lungs, and various other organs. The earliest stethoscope, devised by the French physician R. T. H. Laënnec in the early 19th cent.
..... Click the link for more information. for listening to the heart and lungs; the ophthalmoscopeophthalmoscope
, instrument used for examining the inner structure of the eye. The device was invented by the German physiologist H. L. F. von Helmholtz in 1851. His model consisted of three plates of glass pressed together and mounted on a handle at a 45° angle.
..... Click the link for more information. to examine the inner eye; and the laryngoscope and bronchoscopebronchoscope
, long, tubular instrument with a light at the tip that is inserted through the windpipe and bronchial tubes to examine these structures. By passing other instruments through it, foreign bodies and obstructions can be removed and tissue or secretions may be removed
..... Click the link for more information. to view the larynx, windpipe, and other air passages. Recent innovations in electronics have made it possible for any of these devices to be fitted with video cameras and lights, so that the interior of the body can be viewed on video monitors and recorded on videotape for future reference. In diagnostic tests, the blood, urine, tissues, and other excretions and secretions of the body are examined for evidence of chemical imbalance, cellular change, and the presence of pathogenic organisms. Exploratory surgery and the insertion of visual equipment through a small incision (e.g., laparoscopy and arthroscopy) may be used to assist in diagnosis.

Diagnosis

in medicine, the process of identifying a disease and designating it with accepted medical terminology— that is, making a diagnosis. The science of the methods of making a diagnosis is called diagnostics.

Diagnosis is based on the thorough and systematic study of a patient that includes (1) anamnesis—purposeful questioning concerning the complaints, history of the condition, and history of the life of the patient, (2) physical examination (inspection, palpation, percussion, auscultation), testing of visual and auditory acuity and reflexes with special devices, testing of the range of movements in the joints, and so forth; (3) analysis of the results of laboratory tests of blood and various excretions (feces, urine, sputum, pus, and so forth); X-ray examinations: graphic methods—recording on paper or film the movements of the heart (cardiography), blood vessels (sphygmography), and so forth; electrodiagnostic studies (electrocardiography, electroencephalography, and so forth); endoscopy—inspection of the interior of certain organs (for example, the stomach and urinary bladder) using special optical instruments; biopsy—the study of small pieces of tissue excised from the patient or of material obtained by puncturing bone marrow and lymph nodes with a special needle. In certain diseases, important diagnostic data are obtained with radioactive isotopes (radioisotopic diagnosis). Bacteriological and serological (using serum) methods are very important in diagnosing infectious and allergic diseases. In order to make a diagnosis in difficult cases, physicians sometimes resort to an exploratory operation, so that they may examine and study local changes directly.

In order to identify a disease, it is generally necessary to find a fairly large number of symptoms and combinations of symptoms and to determine their intensity. Since different diseases may share the same symptoms (for example, headache, fever, vomiting), differential diagnosis is used. The starting point is usually the selection of the most characteristic, prominent, and positively known (pathognomonic) symptom. The disease is compared with others that show a similar symptom. Less commonly, the diagnosis is made by excluding similar diseases.

To avoid the errors caused by insufficient medical experience, especially in diagnosing rare diseases, attempts were made starting in the 1950’s to make diagnoses with the help of computers, using symptoms (detected by the physician) whose significance in various diseases was calculated beforehand. Development of this approach (cybernetic medicine) is impeded by the difficulties encountered in evaluating symptoms quantitatively and by the imperfect classification of diseases.

In making a diagnosis, the physician attempts to find the cause of the disease and its accompanying diseases and complications and to assess the severity of the functional disorders (functional diagnosis). He also takes into account the particular physiological characteristics of the patient. Thus, a diagnosis must reflect the characteristics that distinguish a given patient from other patients with the same disease. An early, accurate, and maximally concrete diagnosis facilitates well-considered and efficacious therapy and often makes it possible to forecast possible variations in the course of the disease.

A pathologicoanatomical diagnosis is made post-mortem by a specialist (pathological anatomist) who bases his diagnosis on the study of the findings of the autopsy and on the chemical and microscopic analysis of tissues in comparison with the results of studies made while the patient was living. Pathologicoanatomical diagnosis is of value is finding and analyzing inaccuracies in diagnoses made during life; it is also used in forensic medicine.

REFERENCES

Osipov, I. N., and P. V. Kopnin. Osnovnye voprosy teorii diagnoza, 2nd ed. Tomsk, 1962.
Metodicheskie problemy diagnostiki Moscow, 1965. (Collection of articles.)
Brodman, K. “Postanovka diagnoza pri pomoshchi vychislitel’noi mashiny.” In Elektronika i kibernetika v biologii i meditsine. Moscow, 1963. Page 361. (Translated from English.)
Diagnosis in veterinary medicine is divided into general and special diagnosis. The objective of the former is preliminary familiarization with the sick animal (anamnesis); determination of its external appearance; study of the skin, integuments, subcutaneous tissue, superficial lymph nodes, and visible mucosae; and measurement of the body temperature. Special diagnosis involves an examination of the internal organs, blood, urine, gastrointestinal contents, cerebrospinal fluid, and so forth. Inspection, palpation, percussion, probing, catheterization, roentgenoscopic and graphic studies (roentgenoscopy, roentgenography, sphygmography, electrocardiography, and so forth) are among the clinical methods used. Diagnostic allergic tests (tuber-culinization, malleinization, and so forth) are used extensively to diagnose infectious and parasitic diseases. Bioassays (inoculation of living tissues and live animals) are necessary in diagnosing a number of infectious diseases (for example, anthrax, brucellosis, tuberculosis, botulism, and tularemia).

REFERENCE

Klinicheskaia diagnostika vnutrennikh boleznei sel’skokhoziaistvennykh zhivotnykh, 2nd ed. Edited by V. I. Zaitsev. Moscow, 1964.

V. I. ZAITSEV

diagnosis

[‚dī·əg′nō·səs] (computer science) The process of locating and explaining detectable errors in a computer routine or hardware component. (medicine) Identification of a disease from its signs and symptoms. (systematics) In taxonomic study, a statement of the characters that distinguish a taxon from coordinate taxa.

diagnosis

1. Meda. the identification of diseases by the examination of symptoms and signs and by other investigations b. an opinion or conclusion so reached 2. Biology a detailed description of an organism, esp a plant, for the purpose of classification

diagnosis

[di″ag-no´sis] 1. determination of the nature of a cause of a disease.2. a concise technical description of the cause, nature, or manifestations of a condition, situation, or problem. adj., adj diagnos´tic.clinical diagnosis diagnosis based on signs, symptoms, and laboratory findings during life.differential diagnosis the determination of which one of several diseases may be producing the symptoms.medical diagnosis diagnosis based on information from sources such as findings from a physical examination, interview with the patient or family or both, medical history of the patient and family, and clinical findings as reported by laboratory tests and radiologic studies.nursing diagnosis see nursing diagnosis.physical diagnosis diagnosis based on information obtained by inspection, palpation, percussion, and auscultation.diagnosis-Related Groups (DRG) a system of classification or grouping of patients according to medical diagnosis for purposes of paying hospitalization costs. In 1983, amendments to Social Security contained a prospective payment plan for most Medicare inpatient services in the United States. The payment plan was intended to control rising health care costs by paying a fixed amount per patient. The program of DRG reimbursement was based on the premise that similar medical diagnoses would generate similar costs for hospitalization. Therefore, all patients admitted for a surgical procedure such as hernia repair would be charged the same amount regardless of actual cost to the hospital. If a patient's hospital bill should total less than the amount paid by Medicare, the hospital is allowed to keep the difference. If, however, a patient's bill is more than that reimbursed by Medicare for a specific diagnosis, the hospital must absorb the difference in cost. See also appendix of Diagnosis-Related Groups.

di·ag·no·sis (Dx),

(dī'ag-nō'sis), The determination of the nature of a disease, injury, or congenital defect. Synonym(s): diacrisis [G. diagnōsis, a deciding]

diagnosis

(dī′əg-nō′sĭs)n. pl. diagno·ses (-sēz) 1. Medicine a. The act or process of identifying or determining the nature and cause of a disease or injury through evaluation of patient history, examination, and review of laboratory data.b. The opinion derived from such an evaluation.2. a. A critical analysis of the nature of something.b. The conclusion reached by such analysis.3. Biology A brief description of the distinguishing characteristics of an organism, as for taxonomic classification.

diagnosis

The process of identifying a disease based on a person’s signs and symptoms, which may be gleaned from a simple physical examination or require ancillary testing, lab work, imaging studies, etc.

diagnosis

Decision-making The process of determining, through examination and analysis, the nature of a Pt's illness; the process of identifying a disease by signs and symptoms; the label for a particular condition. See Computer-assisted diagnosis, Differential diagnosis, Deferred diagnosis, Definitive diagnosis, Direct diagnosis, Electrodiagnosis, Indirect diagnosis, Leading diagnosis, Misdiagnosis, Primary diagnosis, Secondary diagnosis, Wastebasket diagnosis, Working diagnosis.

di·ag·no·sis

(dī-ăg-nō'sis) The determination of the nature of a disease, injury, or congenital defect.
See also: nursing diagnosis[G. diagnōsis, a deciding]

diagnosis

The art and science of identifying the disease causing a particular set of clinical signs and symptoms. Differential diagnosis is the selection of one from a list of diseases that present in a similar way. From the Greek dia , through, and gnoskein , to perceive.

diagnosis

a statement that distinguishes the particular TAXON in question from other similar taxa, in terms of the most important characters.
identification of a particular pathological or physiological condition deduced from characteristic symptoms, or the procedure to achieve such an identification.

diagnosis

1. Term that indicates the disease (e.g. pulmonary tuberculosis) or the refractive error (e.g. compound myopic astigmatism) that a person has. 2. The art of determining a disease or visual anomaly based on the signs, symptoms and tests.

di·ag·no·sis

(Dx) (dī-ăg-nō'sis) The determination of the nature of a disease, injury, or congenital defect. [G. diagnōsis, a deciding]

Patient discussion about diagnosis

Q. How is the diagnosis of autism made? My friend has a child who is suspected to have autism. I wanted to find out more about making the diagnosis of autism.A. Diagnosing autism is not an easy task, especially when there are several other conditions that might confuse the clinician with this disorder or spectrum of disorders. The child usually has several symptoms that suggest an autistic disorder, such as impaired social behavior. Several diagnostic instruments (tests) are available. Two are commonly used in autism research: the Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised (ADI-R) is a semistructured parent interview, and the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS) uses observation and interaction with the child. The Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS) is used widely in clinical environments to assess severity of autism based on observation of children.
A pediatrician commonly performs a preliminary investigation by taking developmental history and physically examining the child.. If warranted, diagnosis and evaluations are conducted with help from ASD specialists, observing and assessing cognitive, communication, family, and other factors

Q. Is the diagnosis correct? I have been diagnosed bipolar and was previously diagnosed with depression and ADHD how I know the diagnosis is correct this time?A. a psychologist/psychiatrist should also have the possibility with a questionary to detect if you have bipolar disorder and/or adhd. i have both and live with it since i am a child. i had my first "out-of-control"-crisis with 29 years. in the meantime i am 46 (in two days) and i still live! i had also many times the wish to make suicide, but this is the worst solution. do you live alone? do you have a dog? do you have a job? what are your talents? what do you love to do in life? write it down and look what you could put on a focus. what are the things you do daily that allows you to stop thinking of all your trouble? write it down. to make a puzzle? play chess with your neighbor? to chat online? you only can collect what could help you in such cases to keep the bad thoughts you have away from yourself. there is always at least one good solution. i give you here some ideas. never give up! thank you

Q. Who was the first person to be diagnosed with ADHD? Here is a question which I find very difficult to get an answer. Who was the first person to be diagnosed with ADHD? Take it easy to answer me my new friend. Thanks in advance.

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Patient discussion about diagnosis

diagnosis

Synonyms for diagnosis

noun identification

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noun opinion

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Synonyms for diagnosis

noun identifying the nature or cause of some phenomenon

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