asymptomatic asymptomatic asymptomatic (or clinically silent) is an adjective categorising the medical conditions (i.e. injuries or diseases) that patients carry but without experiencing their symptoms, despite an explicit diagnosis (e.g. a positive medical test). pulmonary contusion due to trauma is an example of a condition that can be asymptomatic with half of people showing no signs at the initial presentation. the ct scan shows a pulmonary contusion (red arrow) accompanied by a rib fracture (purple arrow). pre-symptomatic is the adjective categorising the time periods during which the medical conditions are asymptomatic. subclinical and paucisymptomatic are other adjectives categorising either the asymptomatic infections (i.e. subclinical infections), or the psychosomatic illnesses and mental disorders expressing a subset of symptoms but not the entire set an explicit medical diagnosis requires. examples an example of an asymptomatic disease is cytomegalovirus (cmv) which is a member of the herpes virus family. "it is estimated that 1% of all newborns are infected with cmv, but the majority of infections are asymptomatic." (knox, 1983; kumar et al. 1984) in some diseases, the proportion of asymptomatic cases can be important. for example, in multiple sclerosis it is estimated that around 25% of the cases are asymptomatic, with these cases detected postmortem or just by coincidence (as incidental findings) while treating other diseases. importance knowing that a condition is asymptomatic is important because: it may develop symptoms later and only then require treatment. it may resolve itself or become benign. it may be contagious, and the contribution of asymptomatic and pre-symptomatic infections to the transmission level of a disease helps set the required control measures to keep it from spreading. it is not required that a person undergo treatment. it does not cause later medical problems such as high blood pressure and hyperlipidaemia. be alert to possible problems: asymptomatic hypothyroidism makes a person vulnerable to wernicke–korsakoff syndrome or beri-beri following intravenous glucose. for some conditions, treatment during the asymptomatic phase is vital. if one waits until symptoms develop, it is too late for survival or to prevent damage. mental health subclinical or subthreshold conditions are those for which the full diagnostic criteria are not met and have not been met in the past, although symptoms are present. this can mean that symptoms are not severe enough to merit a diagnosis, or that symptoms are severe but do not meet the criteria of a condition. the dsm-5 has a range of subclinical diagnoses called "other specified" and "unspecified" disorders to fit this category, including other specified feeding or eating disorder and other specified personality disorder and unspecified personality disorder. list these are conditions for which there is a sufficient number of documented individuals that are asymptomatic that it is clinically noted. for a complete list of asymptomatic infections see subclinical infection. balanitis xerotica obliterans benign lymphoepithelial lesion cardiac shunt carotid artery dissection carotid bruit cavernous hemangioma chloromas (myeloid sarcoma) cholera chronic myelogenous leukemia coeliac disease coronary artery disease coronavirus disease 2019 cowpox diabetic retinopathy essential fructosuria flu or influenza strains folliculosebaceous cystic hamartoma glioblastoma multiforme (occasionally) glucocorticoid remediable aldosteronism glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency hepatitis hereditary elliptocytosis herpes heterophoria human coronaviruses (common cold germs) hypertension (high blood pressure) histidinemia hiv (aids) hpv hyperaldosteronism hyperlipidaemia hyperprolinemia type i hypothyroidism hypoxia (some cases) idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura iridodialysis (when small) lesch–nyhan syndrome (female carriers) levo-transposition of the great arteries measles meckel's diverticulum microvenular hemangioma mitral valve prolapse monkeypox monoclonal b-cell lymphocytosis myelolipoma nonalcoholic fatty liver disease optic disc pit osteoporosis pertussis (whooping cough) pes cavus poliomyelitis polyorchidism pre-eclampsia prehypertension protrusio acetabuli pulmonary contusion renal tubular acidosis rubella smallpox (extinct since the 1980s) spermatocele sphenoid wing meningioma spider angioma splenic infarction (though not typically) subarachnoid hemorrhage tonsillolith tuberculosis type ii diabetes typhus vaginal intraepithelial neoplasia varicella (chickenpox) wilson's disease millions of women reported lack of symptoms during pregnancy until the point of childbirth or the beginning of labor; they didn't know they were pregnant. this phenomenon is known as cryptic pregnancies.