Possible Mesothelioma?

  Hi I'm a 36 yr old male.  I worked as an electrician from 2000 to 2004.  In April of 07 I was admitted to the emergency room for chest pains.  They told me it was a panic attack.  Well it is now January and I have been in and out of the ER three more times since then and through the outpatient clinic no less than 12 times.
  I have had CT scans, 8 chest xrays and two abdominal, doppler scan of my liver, hepititus panel, ekg, multiple blood tests, doppler of my left groing to my ankle for a possible blood clot and TSH tests.
  They diagnosed me with an underactive thyroid with tsh of 15.6 and they didn't get it regulated until December 15th of 07.  I started Synthroid medicine .25 mcgs on July 14th of 07 and levels went from 15.6 to 8 then a month later shot up to 17.9 but now are normal since they triple my medicine.
My question is this. With all the tests I have had done,  would they have caught mesothelioma?  I have been complaining about abdominal pain and chest pains for the last three months.  Last chest xrays were December 7th of 2007.  I worked as an electrician and after reading about mesothelioma and the symptoms, I am very concerned. My doctor says highly unlikey but I want an MRI done to rule it out.  Please tell me what you think.

[Fernando Roque, MD]

Hi.  Malignant mesothelioma is a rare type of cancer which usually develops as a result of exposure to asbestos containing material.  Did you have prolonged exposure to asbestos when you worked as an electrician?  Chest X-rays and CT scan is enough to detect mesothelioma tumors. You don't need an MRI for that.  Since you've had those procedures done, and no masses were detected, then it's highly unlikely that you have the disease.