Can you have a chest xray showing pneumonia and not have pneumonia?

[treasureswk]

On May 17th I had a chest xray because of an injury, it showed two broken ribs. Last week the nurse from the Emergency Room called and said the xrays showed a HUGE MASS on my left lung, and said I needed to get a CT scan.  I am new to this state , so I went to a referral dr a few days after the first xray, he listened to my lungs and said everything was just fine. So after the nurses call I called his office , they gave me a order for a new set of xrays.  Yesterday, the nurse from the doctors office called and said the preliminary report from the xray dept. showed Pneumonia in the left lung. However when the nurse showed the doctor the report, he crossed the Pneumonia diagnosis out. SO I am totally confused as to what the heck is going on, and ofcourse I have been searching the web trying to get as much information as I can.  Could an xray showing a HUGE mass, actually be cancer and not the Pneumonia? Or could it be a cancer that maybe I have had in another part of my body that has spread to the lungs, and just shows up as Pnemonia (pneumonia)? I am 55 yrs. old, and and have been in really good health all my life with four normal childbirths, a toncillectomy and a gall bladder removal, and am not on any kind of daily medication other than an aspirin a day.  And I do smoke, two packs a day for twenty years, yep I bet it's cancer huh?  Well I really appreciate any information that you can give me.  Thanks so much.

[National Jewish]

You need to talk with the doctor who, "...crossed the pneumonia diagnosis out" to know what is being seen in your left lung.  You will probably need to have further testing to know the answers to your questions.  A CT scan of the chest shows more detail than a chest x-ray.  This could clarify what is being seen in your left lung.  A pulmonologist would be the type of specialist to identify the lung problem and the best treatment.

Whatever the outcome, you should look upon this as a sign that you should stop smoking.  At this time quitting smoking is the most important thing that you can do for yourself!  You may want to look at our Quit Smoking Topic Center at http://www.nationaljewish.org/topic/smoking_cessation.html for ways to help you to smoke no more.  Also check with your doctor for other quit smoking resources in your area.

[AndyRRT]

The answer to your question is < NO >

You cannot have a pneumonia on the xray, and not have pneuminia. There could be several probabilities as to the opacification on your xray. Broken ribs causes pain, and with this pain comes the lack of chest wall movement. When the chest wall is hurt, we usually take somewhat shallow breaths. Over a long period of time, this can build up to whats called atlectasis. It laymens terms, its when the lungs kind of stiffen up due lack of use. The area of your lung may be showing a bit of opacification due to atelectasis. Over time, this will disappear as things heal. Doing cough & deep breathing will excercise the lung back to normal. Also, when the chest is bruised, alittle bleeding can occur inside the chest wall. This too can show up on the xray.

Now, as for your smoking. VERY concerning. I'd have to see the xray myself to determine what this mass could actually represent. But yes, lung cancers do present as "masses" on xrays. It xsounds like some follow up is definately needed. The CT scan was a good call. It will be more definative.


Goodluck, and get off those friggen cigarettes before its too late dude...

Andy, RRT, CPFT

[0123]

My husband had a chest xray 6 wks ago.  His showed a 1mm shadow on his lower right lobe.  He smoked for years. Stopped smoking  cigerattes and then he went to cigars.  He quit 4 months ago hopefully not too late.  He is scheduled for a ct scan w/dye in 2 1/2 wks.  Will let you know the results.  Hope your results are good.  But on an xray, it could be showing infection, inflammation or a tumor.  At least thats what we've been told.  We've also been told that it could be a nipple shadow, a bad xray reading or even scar tissue.

[kels8]

A related discussion, White shadow on upper right lung.. was started.