Hemochromatosis | Diagnosis and Prevention
Diagnosis
Your doctor will ask detailed questions about your medical history, examine you and ask you several tests to measure the amount of iron in blood. It is often recommended a liver biopsy to confirm the diagnosis. In this procedure, you will receive local anesthesia and remove a small portion of tissue from your liver to examine ellaboratorio. Some experts recommend that all adults get tested to measure the amount of iron in the blood as a way to detect this disorder. However, not all experts agree that it is useful.
There are genetic tests available for one of the most common genes associated with this disorder (found in up to 90 percent of people with hemochromatosis) but not all people with this gene have the disease. In people with abnormally high levels of iron in blood and genetic testing positive, liver biopsy may not be necessary. (more…)