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, mucous membranes and sclerae (white part of the eye) [hyperpigmentation of the skin].
- Auscultation (listening) of the heart [cardiomyopathy (heart muscle disease)]
- Palpation (palpation) of the abdomen (abdomen) (tenderness?, tapping pain?, coughing pain?, guarding?, hernial orifices?, renal bearing knock?) [hepato/splenomegaly (liver/spleen enlargement), cirrhosis (shrunken liver)]
- Inspection (viewing).
- Health check
Square brackets [ ] indicate possible pathological (pathological) physical findings.
