What is involved in the diagnosis of bronchitis?

Bronchitis is a disease in which an inflamed lung lining, causing symptoms such as difficulty breathing, wheezing, chest discomfort, productive cough, fever and fatigue. It is usually caused by a virus, although it can also be a result of a bacterial infection or exposure to environmental irritants, especially cigarette smoke. Before diagnosing bronchitis, the doctor usually asks the patient about his symptoms and then listens to his breathing. The physician may also perform tests to determine the cause of bronchitis and exclude other lung -related diseases. These tests may include an ankle analysis, chest X -rays and lung function control.

In general, the first step towards the diagnosis of bronchitis discussion about patient symptoms. The patient will usually be asked to indicate any symptoms he experienced. The physician usually also places a stethoscope against the patient's chest in bracts for abnormal respiratory sounds. In many cases these simple steps needed to PR areImprovement of bronchitis diagnosis.

If bronchitis was caused by bacterial infection, antibiotics may be the most effective treatment. However, antibiotics are not effective against more common viral bronchitis. Therefore, if the doctor has diagnosed bronchitis, but suspects that the disease is bacterial, can analyze the mucus sample. If bacteria are detected in the patient's Hlment, it may prescribe the course of antibiotics.

Sometimes the doctor may not be sure immediately whether breathing problems are caused by bronchitis or other lung -related diseases. In this case, the diagnosis of bronchitis can avoid until it has ruled out the possibility of other diseases. To remove other potential diseases, it often performs one or more diagnostic tests. These tests often include chest X -ray and lung function control.

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chest X -ray provides a patient's lung image. By studying this image canthat being able to confirm that it had the correct diagnosis of bronchitis. On the contrary, it may find that the patient's pulmonary and thoracic discomfort is actually due to another disease such as pneumonia.

Another test that is commonly used to confirm the diagnosis of bronchitis is a lung function, known technically as a pulmonary function test (PFT). During the PFT, the patient inaches into a device that measures the ability of his lungs to breathe and exhale air. Poor lung function may indicate chronic respiratory diseases such as asthma or emphysema.