Faint Opacity

Greetings!

     In my recent Xray results, it states: Faint Opacity, Left Upper Lung Field.  Suggest Lordotic View. What does it mean. Is this dangerous?  

[Fernando Roque, MD]

Hi.  An opacity on the left upper lung field on chest x-ray could mean a lot of things.  Did the x-ray reading indicate how big the opacity is, and what it's shape is?  Opacities which appear as an indistinct haziness or as streaks may indicate infection (e.g. pneumonia or tuberculosis).  Bigger rounded opacities may signify a possible malignancy or TB.  Multiple pinpoint densities on the upper lung field could also imply tuberculosis.  

An opacity found on chest x-ray merely suggests a certain diagnosis (like pneumonia, TB , or malignancy).  Some other tests are frequently needed to verify the diagnosis.  For example, if a diagnosis of tuberculosis is suggested by the x-ray, sputum microscopy and culture has to be done to confirm the presence of TB.  The x-ray finding also has to be correlated with the patient's symptoms and overall clinical picture.  

The lordotic x-ray view was probably requested by your doctor to clarify the nature of that opacity.  At this point, it's still too early to tell if the opacity signifies a serious/ dangerous condition.  As I have said earlier, the xray finding needs to be correlated with other tests as well as the patient's symptoms.