Polycythemia: Examination

A comprehensive clinical examination is the basis for selecting further diagnostic steps:

  • General physical examination – including blood pressure, pulse, body temperature, body weight, body height; further:
    • Inspection (viewing).
      • Skin, mucous membranes, and sclerae (white part of the eye) [sweating, plethora (excessive bloodiness)]
      • Abdomen (abdomen)
        • Shape of the abdomen?
        • Skin color? Skin texture?
        • Efflorescences (skin changes)?
        • Pulsations? Bowel movements?
        • Visible vessels?
        • Scars? Hernias (fractures)?
    • Auscultation (listening) of the heart [differential diagnoses: congenital heart conditions such as septal defects (structural damage to the heart wall, or holes in the septum), left-right shunt (disorder of blood circulation in which oxygenated blood from the arterial limb of the circulatory system (eg. E.g., from the left side of the heart) passes directly into the venous limb of the circulation (e.g., the right side of the heart)); secondary erythrocytosis due to arterial hypoxia/oxygen deficiency)]
    • Examination of the abdomen
      • Percussion (tapping) of the abdomen
        • [Meteorism (flatulence): hypersonoric tapping sound.
        • Attenuation of tapping sound due to enlarged liver or spleen, tumor, urinary retention?
        • Hepatomegaly (liver enlargement) and/or splenomegaly (spleen enlargement): estimate liver and spleen size]
      • Palpation of the abdomen, with an attempt to palpate the spleen, or liver (tenderness?, tapping pain?, coughing pain?, defensive tension?, hernial orifices?, renal bearing tapping pain?)
  • Cancer prevention
  • Health check (as an additional follow-up measure).

Square brackets [ ] indicate possible pathological (pathological) physical findings.