Chest x-ray

I had a chest x-ray which indicated that there are interstitial opacity in the left lower lobe at the costophrenic angles and the doctor's comment was : There are no features of TB but exclude bronchopneumonia with clinical features.

Please explain to me what this means and how best to treat this problem.

[Dr. Kokil Mathur]

Hi!
Interstitial opacities develop due to deposit of water, blood, fibrous tissue, tumor, malignant cells. These can be deposited either individually or in combination. Depending on the pattern of deposit and other tests a diagnosis is given. The doctor does not feel that the deposit is due to tuberculosis, but feels it is more likely to be pneumonia. However, all diagnostic tests need to be clinically correlated. If you do not have symptoms like cough, high fever etc, then it is less likely to be pneumonia. Please discuss with your treating doctor. Take care!