Diagnosis of pneumonia
In most cases, pneumonia may be suspected clinically when the doctor examines the patient and hears coarse breathing or crackling sounds when listening to a portion of the chest with a stethoscope. There may be wheezing, or the sounds of breathing may be faint in a particular area of the chest.
A chest X-ray is usually ordered to confirm the diagnosis of pneumonia.
To confirm the diagnosis and the organism, sputum samples can be collected and examined under the microscope. To further confirm the finding of a microorganism, a sample of the sputum can be grown in special incubators, and the offending bacteria can be subsequently identified.
It is important to understand that the sputum specimen must contain little saliva from the mouth and be delivered to the laboratory fairly quickly. Otherwise, overgrowth of noninfecting bacteria may predominate.
A blood test is done to assess the severity of the infection. A white blood cell count (WBC) may be performed. An individual’s white blood cell count can often give a hint as to the severity of the pneumonia and whether it is caused by bacteria or a virus.
Bronchoscopy
Bronchoscopy is a procedure in which a bronchoscope (thin, flexible, tube with fibreoptics to view the structures at the front of the tube) is inserted into the nose or mouth after a local anesthetic is administered to eliminate or reduce the pain. The breathing passages can then be directly examined by the doctor, and specimens from the infected part of the lung can be obtained.
Legionella urinary antigen test is done if there is clinical suspicion of Legionnaire’s disease.
Next page: Treatment of Pneumonia
Written by :Healthplus24 team
Date last updated: March 26, 2012