The reason I ask is because, I had a ct w/contrast of the head and neck. The Doc said that I have shotty nodes in the neck area. Did not specify what region. She didn't seem concerned about them so much. She then stated that the ct showed somthing in the upper lobes of the lungs and asked if I had ever had a bad case of pneumonia. When I was about five I told her. She had me schedule another ct on my chest, that's in about a week. I originally went to the ENT because of a persistant pain in my right throat that causes irritation to my right ear for three months now. It comes and goes but I feel it every day. I also feel noduals in the throat area and on the back of my head and neck. I have no symtoms of infection and feel good. So I was curious if what she saw could still be scar tissue of is these are symtoms of somthing more serious. I have Gurd for several years now and am taking Prilosec for a few weeks. The Doc says maybe Gurd is whats causing the refered ear pain. Thanks for the response, I'm just trying to figure this out and move forward.
Hello,
Pneumonia is an inflammatory illness of the lung. When an infection develops, there is an inflammation of the air passages beyond the windpipe. Part of our immune response results in the formation of mucus and catarrh, which takes a couple of weeks to clear. If the attacking bacteria or virus is particularly aggressive, or we are run down and immuno-suppressed, the bug may multiply rapidly to invade a whole area of lung tissue. This may occur in an entire lobe of the lung or be scattered throughout both lungs in bronchopneumonia. When the lining (pleura) of the lung becomes affected, the infective process will cause the lung to adhere to the pleura to produce the pain of pleurisy. Then, as the condition becomes walled off by our defending white blood cells, the inflammatory response will sometimes result in scarring. It is equally likely that an area of infection within the lung will be contained by the body's immune response and that scar tissue will develop. These changes will often produce an appearance of thickening, or scarring, on an X-ray of the chest.
In time, the infection and inflammatory response will subside. The scarring will diminish steadily as time goes by in most of cases but in some cases it does not entirely disappear throughout the life or most of the life. Hope it helps.Regards.