Symptoms of lungs disease

Symptoms of lungs disease are devided on morphological symptoms and functional symptoms.

Among the numerous symptoms of the lungs pathology basic are the changes of: radiolucency of the lung fields, the lungs’ roots, the lung pattern, the position of diaphragm and mediastinum.

Scialogy is science about shadow`s formation and signs which appear by X-ray photography examination.

In lungs the basic function of which is an interchange of gases, there can be morphological and functional signs of disease.

Signs which are accompanied the change of lungs airiness, belong to morphological - reduction or increase of lungs airiness. The reduction of lungs airiness is accompanied with the increasing density of tissue in a unit of volume; increase of lungs airiness is accompanied with diminishing density of tissue in a unit of volume. But the radiolucency of pulmonary tissue can are redused on account of extrapulmonal processes such as liquid in a pleura cavity, tumours of soft tissues of thoracic wall, ribs and others. Therefore it is very important to distinguish intrapulmonal and extrapulmonal process on the row of signs.

The diseases are accompanied the increase of airiness or pneumatization of lungs (emphysema, air cysts, dystrophy of lungs and other cavernous formations). In part of cases an increase of airiness also can be extrapulmonal due to the accumulation of air into a pleural cavity.

Changes intermediate tissue of lungs may to arise due to inflammatory of stroma, lymphangitis (one of the tumour’s features), accumulation of liquid as result an edema or vascular stasis of lungs.

Every shadow for lung’s patology must to characterize according to following signs: PO-NU-FO-SI IN-PA-KO-S (position, number, form, sizes, intensity, pattern, contours and structure).

This signs are characterized any shadows which finding as result of roentgenological examinations of patients.

Position (localization) of pulmonary shadow: whole lung, lobe, segment.

Number of pulmonary shadow maybe single, several or plural.

The form of pulmonary shadow maybe round, oval, linear, ring shaped, wrong and other.

The sizes: 0,1-0,3 sm - miliary foci, small foci – 4-5 mm, middle foci – 6-7 mm and large foci - 8-10 mm in a diameter.

The intensity: the shadow maybe small (compare to the vessel in a transverse section or anterior rib), middle and dense or intensive.

The lung’s pattern - a lung’s pattern is not changed, enriched, impoverished, increased and deformed.

The contours can be clear (sharp-cut) and unclear, smooth or denticulate, wave.

The structure - homogeneous and heterogeneous or non-homogeneous.

Miliary Pattern

The dense shadows in the miliary pattern measure about 1 to 3 mm in size and are discrete. Early miliary pattern may be missed in conventional radiology and CT may be necessary in order to diagnose. The miliary patterns are produced classically in miliary tuberculosis, tropical eosinophilia, miliary carcinoma­tosis, hemosiderosis and occupational disorders such as silicosis, bagassosis, etc.

Nodular Pattern

When the densities are more than 5 mm but less than 1 cm, these are generally termed as nodular densities. These are well circumscribed and distributed in both lungs. The etiology for this nodular pattern includes septic emboli, tuberculosis and hematogenous meta­stasis.

Coin Shadows

The term coin shadow comes from the shape and size of the density in the PA view of the chest. These coin shadows in reality have three dimensions and hence should be called "Marble shadows". These could be single or multiple. When multiple, these are due to septic emboli, multiple tuberculomata, fluid-filled cysts, infected bronchiectatic lesions, adenocarcinoma of the lung and metastasis.

Parenchymal Masses

Any opacity in the lung measuring more than 3 cm is described as a mass. It is important to be sure by conventional radiographs whether the mass is located in the lung parenchyma, pleura or extrapleural in origin such as arising from the rib, intercostal nerve, mediastinum, etc. In general, parenchymal mass is outlined both in PA and lateral views of the chest, whereas with pleural or extrapleural mass, one of the borders will not be outlined, as it silhouettes with pleura.

Cavitary Pattern

Cavitation occurs in abscess, tuberculosis, fungal granuloma, infarcts, ruptured hydatid cyst, end stage disease of sarcoidosis, primary malignancies and metastasis.

Cavity in the lung may contain air, pus, hemor­rhage or a fungus ball. The common cause of cavity in the lung particularly in the upper lobes is tuber­culosis. Tuberculous cavities in general are thin walled and air containing.