Faint Opacity

[alga]

Greetings!

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

[pengshoppe]

Hi Doc good day! I just had my chest x-ray test and the following comments are shown:
"A suspicious opacity is noted in the left upper lung fied, superimposed on the first anterior and fifth posterior ribs."

kindly explain further because i was about to sign a contract from my new job but due to this xray result they advised me to have an apicolordotic xray.

Thank you so much in advance.

[ren0328]

magandang araw po sa mga doctors dyan, tanong lang po ako kasi last year 2012 nov nag pa xray ako  and yung result po ay may faint opacity daw and sugusted to lordotic view, and yung result po nung 2nd xray  na lordotic view is clear naman,.. tapos this year po nov 2013 nag pa xray uli ako, pero same po ung result na may faint opacity ung right upper lung field, bakit po ganun? 2010 po dati nagpa xray ako negative naman po (clear) ano po ibig sabihin ng ganitong senaryo, kasi nag aalala po ako... wala namn po akong ubo, lagnat o loose wght, kung merun po namang ubo ay sandali lang... ren0328 po ito. paki sagot po kun sinung may alam,,, thank you

[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.