Dr. Diane Wagner

It can be treated by taking replacement thyroid hormone daily so it is pretty easy to treat. However if left untreated there can be numerous negative effects such as psychomotor slowing, weight gain, decreased energy, depression, and other services effects. He should see an endocrinologist who specializes in thyroid disorders to get the cause and determine what treatment he needs.

This is usually a rush biopsy meaning they gross it the same day and the slide comes out the next day for the pathologist to sign out. However, if the pathologist needs special stains or deeper levels, it may take an additional day. Usually the doctor will call the patient as soon as the report comes out, however, I have seen it take several weeks for doctors to get the results to the patients and this is not right. The best thing to do is to obtain a copy of the written report so that you can see the date that it was signed by the pathologist.

It depends on the type of anemia she has and how low the hemoglobin is. It also depends on whether it is an acute or chronic anemia. I suggest you ask your physician for a referral to a pediatric hematologist or, if she is an adult, then she should see a hematologist.

Transfusion can be life saving for certain patients, however, there are many risks of blood transfusion and it should only be done when required. The physician and transfusion medicine director determine if it is needed by reviewing the patient’s medical history and the reason for transfusion because there are also risks for being transfused and sometimes patients have transfusion reactions that can be very dangerous. This is why patients are required to sign consent forms. If you are deficient, then your physician may be able to treat the deficiency and this would be safer than a transfusion. But if you are actually bleeding, then it may be necessary to receive a transfusion. Only you and your physician can best determine the course of action depending on the situation. We don’t usually use a specific hemoglobin level because it depends on if the anemia is chronic or acute. A chronic anemia gives the body time to adjust to the low hemoglobin level, but in acute anemia (example is acute bleeding in a trauma or operating room), the body has no time to adjust to the low hemoglobin level and transfusion may be needed because the patient becomes symptomatic from the lowered oxygen carrying capacity. The organs that use the most oxygen will be impacted by the low hemoglobin level and the patient will feel chest pain from cardiac ischemia if the hemoglobin becomes too low. I would ask for a referral to a hematologist as a consultant if you have questions not answered by your regular physician.

75% of cases are due to it being inherited from the parents. It is autosomal dominant which means that the gene may be inherited from 1 or both parents in 75% of cases. It is usually followed by a pediatric cardiologist because it will result in weakness of the elastic tissue in the body. The aorta requires elastic to have a strong wall and in Marfans Syndrome, aortic aneurysms occur that can rupture and result in death unless they are prevented. The patient should be seen by specialists (geneticist and pediatric/adult cardiologist at an early age to prevent aortic aneurysms by blood pressure control. The other 25% of cases are due to spontaneous mutations which are not from either parent.

Yes. Blood donations are greatly needed. 

It depends on the lab because some labs will not run a single specimen because it is too costly and they usually batch specimens and do them once per week (or when they get enough to run the tests). You can call the lab to find out about when it will be done. Once they have a result then it is sent to the doctor who ordered the test. And that doctor is supposed to give the result to the patient in a timely fashion but it doesn’t always happen like that. Sometimes patients have to remind the doctor that they have not gotten the results and the patient should receive a written copy of the results to make sure there are no mistakes in communication. I would say if you have not received the results in 10 days then I would call the doctor and demand them.

It depends on the biopsy and specimen type. Usually small biopsies are rush specimens and are processed (grossed and put in machines to prepare them to embed in wax) the same day they are received in the pathology lab. The following day, slides are prepared and the pathologist renders a diagnosis if possible. Sometimes, special stains and special studies are needed and this results in holding the diagnosis until the results of the special stains/studies come back and that can take another week sometimes. Usually pathology tries to get the results back ASAP because the doctor needs to know so that they can notify the patient. The only exception is if it’s a very rare condition that no one has seen before and then it’s best to send the entire case to an expert pathologist (for example at Memorial Sloan Kettering or MD Anderson if it’s a rare cancer case). And also, usually skin biopsies are read by specialists called dermatopatholgists. regular pathologists can read skin specimens but if it’s a difficult case then we walk the case over to dermatolopatholgy. I was trained at NY Hospital-Cornell Medical Center and that was my experience.

Yes it can be uncomfortable but you should ask the urologist about pain control. Try to have it done inside a hospital (urology suite or same day surgery)where you can get appropriate medication.

Any suspicious or pigmented lesions should be examined by a dermatologist.

Usually they culture the discharge from the penis but they also treat with antibiotics. Do not hesitate to tell your doctor that you have a problem with your penis because it’s totally confidential. They will ask about your history if the test is positive because they want to make sure they get your partners treated. If not treated, it can cause problems becoming pregnant as it causes pelvic inflammatory disease. And if not treated then you will spread it to any females that you have sex with. The best thing is to get treated ASAP so please seek medical assistance.

Yes, pathology performs autopsies, and there are forensic pathologists who perform autopsies at the medical examiner's office when the death is suspicious or not from natural causes.

You need a doctors order to get tested because the lab needs to collect a red top tube for hepatitis testing. And there are 3 types of hepatitis that are tested. Hepatitis A is spread by fecal oral contamination meaning someone doesn’t wash their hands before preparing food and when others eat their food, they can suffer from hepatitis A. Hepatitis B and C are transmitted through body fluids and can be spread through transfusion. The blood centers test for Hepatitis B, hepatitis C and non B/non C hepatitis (by elevated liver enzymes) before blood is transfused as it is a FDA requirement. Your physician needs to order hepatitis testing but you can use a telemedicine physician, urgent care or your private physician for access to testing. If the testing is positive, today there is thankfully treatment for hepatitis B and hepatitis C that was not available previously. This is important because if untreated, it can result in carcinoma of the liver which is difficult to treat successfully.