Spots on the chest after Pneumonia

[dan2007]

suffered from Pnuemonia (pneumonia) 7 years back. and even after the treatment when he was absolutely fine, had Chest Xray done and there were some spots that were visible in the chest Xray and doctor told that these spots remains for life. Just want to check that is it true that these spots remain forever. Or can there be any treatment to remove these spots. And can these spots tell that the person have ever suffred from any lung disorder.

[National Jewish]

It is not rare but is uncommon to have spots remain for life, following pneumonia.  This is more likely to happen after infection with one of more than a half-dozen fungi or with tuberculosis (TB) infections.  It can also occur after chicken pox pneumonia.  There is no practical way to remove these spots.  In general, they cause no problems, either with lung function or infection.  However, the spots caused by TB or fungi may contain these organisms and thus the potential to re-infect your lungs.  They do indicate that you had a lung disease but usually non-specific, since they do not indicate which or what type of lung infection.  Save for the possibility of reactivation of the original infection, these spots are harmless, like scars.