A comprehensive clinical examination is the basis for selecting further diagnostic steps:
- General physical examination – including blood pressure, pulse, body weight, height; further:
- Inspection (viewing).
- Skin and mucous membranes [leading symptoms: generalized edema (water retention occurring throughout the body); morning swelling of eyelids, face, lower legs]
- Auscultation (listening) of the heart [due topossible sequelae: Thrombosis (vein occlusion); pulmonary embolism (occlusion of pulmonary vessels due to a detached thrombus)]
- Auscultation of the lungs
- Palpation (palpation) of the abdomen (abdomen) (tenderness?, knocking pain?, coughing pain?, defensive tension?, hernial orifices?, kidney bearing knocking pain?)
- Inspection (viewing).
- Cancer screening [due topossible causes:
- Hodgkin’s disease (lymphogranulomatosis) – a malignant tumor of the lymphatic system.
- Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (malignant tumor of the lymphatic system that does not meet the diagnostic criteria of Hodgkin’s disease).
- Paraneoplastic (occurring alongside an existing cancer) syndromes – in various malignancies such as mesothelioma, renal, breast (mammary), colon (colorectal), or pancreatic (pancreatic) cancer]
- Urological/nephrological examination[due todifferential diagnosis: other forms of glomerulonephritis][due topossible sequelae: renal failure requiring dialysis or need for kidney transplantation]
- Health check
Square brackets [ ] indicate possible pathological (pathological) physical findings.