Common Misdiagnoses of Fibroma

A fibroma is defined as a benign, or non-cancerous, tumor that is made up of fibrous tissue. Fibrous tissue is any type of tissue that can be separated or pulled apart and that resembles fibers. A fibroma is not harmful in and of itself, but misdiagnosis of a fibroma can cause serious harm and can potentially lead to a medical malpractice lawsuit. 

Diagnosis Procedure

There are several stages to the diagnosis of a fibroma. The first step in correctly diagnosing a fibroma is an examination of a thorough and specific medical history that you, as the patient, should give to your physician. The second step can vary depending on what the doctor decides is the best option for a correct diagnosis. The options that the physician has available at his or her disposable include the use of any number of sophisticated imaging and diagnostic procedures. These procedures allow the doctor to not only correctly diagnose you, but they also allow them to stage and detect the tumor. 

Some of the options available to ensure correct diagnosis include the following:

• Magnetic resonance imaging, or MRI
• Computed tomography
• Endoscopy
• Isotope scan 
• An X-ray

Typically, deciding which imaging procedure is performed will depend on what area of the body the tumor is located in. However, the most important diagnostic procedure used in order to correctly diagnose a fibroma is a direct biopsy of the tumor itself. Tissue samples for a biopsy can be taken in a number of different ways, including the following:

• Surgical incision 
• Endoscopy
• Fine-needle aspiration
• Curettage
• Pleural effusion
• A dermal punch

Again, the way in which the biopsy of the tumor is taken highly depends on the area of the body where the tumor is located. Imaging will typically be followed by one of these options in order to correctly diagnose the tumor. The samples will be sent to a laboratory, where the tissue samples will be analyzed thoroughly to ensure that the tissue is benign, indicating a fibroma and ruling out cancer.

Misread, Delayed, or Missed Diagnosis

Even after using the most sophisticated procedures, it is possible that the correct diagnosis of a fibroma can be misread, delayed or missed in a number of ways.

• The diagnosis could be misread as another condition, such as cancer or a similar medical condition that is found in the particular part of the body where the tumor is located. For instance, fibromas in the breast could be misread as metastases rather than a fibroma. 
• A fibroma could also be misdiagnosed as cancer during the pathology phase once the biopsy has been collected due to results in errors at the lab. 
• The diagnosis of a fibroma could be missed for the same reasons as they are misread. The diagnosis could be missed altogether if not enough of the specimen is drawn or imaged. It could also be missed if the wrong areas of the tumor were taken for biopsies.

Consequences of Misdiagnosis and Medical Malpractice

Obviously, the biggest consequences occur when a fibroma is diagnosed and the tumor is actually cancer, or vice versa. For instance, if the tumor has been tested and you are diagnosed with a fibroma that is actually cancer, you will not receive the treatment that is necessary in order to get rid of the cancer. This can have fatal consequences, as cancer that is left untreated in the body for a period of time can spread to other locations and ultimately cause death. However, the reverse is also true. If you are diagnosed with cancer when the tumor is, in fact, benign, you will perhaps suffer the ill effects of unnecessary cancer treatment, such as chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery. If your doctor misdiagnosed you when no reasonable doctor would have and if this misdiagnosis caused you some type of provable harm, then a medical malpractice claim may be your best option. 

Getting Help

If you have experienced a misdiagnosis of a fibroma, you should strongly consider speaking with a lawyer. Your attorney can assess your situation and help you to understand whether you may have a medical malpractice claim to recover damages you suffered.