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First timer question about Patchy areas of air consolidation
Lung Health | Last Active: 3 days ago | Replies (9)Comment receiving replies
@mlp44 Welcome to Mayo Connect, where patients and caregivers meet to share their health journeys and support one another.
Uninterpreted (by your doc) CT Scan results can be scary! Did you find this on your patient portal this morning? I cannot explain what is going on in your lungs because I am not your doctor, but maybe I can help ease your mind while you wait to consult with them.
Each of these findings indicate there is "something" going on in your lungs, but without context it is hard to say what. Radiologists report exactly what they see to the physician, but without context because they don't know your history.
"abnormal scan" means just that - the descriptors below are not usually present in a healthy lung.
"patchy areas of air consolidation" means some of the alveoli have joined together and are larger than normal - often seen in cases of chronic bronchitis, asthma, COPD, and other lung conditions
"additional ground glass area" - scary sounding, but just means cloudy areas that cannot be seen clearly. This often happens after a bacterial or viral infection - some of the old infectious material is left behind, and usually gets absorbed and eliminated over time. Many people who had Covid had these areas, some of them very large, and they have gone away.
"secondary to multifocal pneumonia ..all right middle lobe" means there were multiple pockets of pneumonia on that part of your lung.
"can't exclude neoplastic process" - that sounds scary, because it CAN mean abnormal cell growth (benign or cancerous) But hear it means that with everything else going on, they can't see the entire lung clearly right now. That usually means they will repeat the CT, possibly with dye for better contrast, once the pneumonia is cleared up.
Was this ordered in hospital or by your primary provider?
If I were you, I would call the ordering doctor for information today so you don't have to worry through the holiday. My guess is you will be seeing a pulmonologist soon to get a clear explanation.
I hope this eases your mind a bit. Please feel free to reply here and we'll help you through this.
Sue
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Hi Sue
Thank you !!
I agree I need to talk to a pulmonologist before any type.of next step, which I havent done. My ENT basically said this is out of his realm. He can speculate and said an infection would make sense because of inflammations, chronic sinusitis, paranasal disease etc
but of course I understand that's not how medicine works. Doctors go off of proof w imaging and labs and especially in their specialty area.
My Sputum was off colored as recent as Dec 10 and Sinus CT Dec 8 confirmed chronic sinusitis and paranasal disease. Sputum is still very thick. Maybe that's the definition of sputnum???
I had larynx scoped in Oct and maxillary was full of pus especially on right but not sure if that is my right or hers? But sinuses were a mess and it went to upper resp infection. I was wheezing pretty bad.f
for a solid month at minimum. Even though my wbcs run on lower end I don't get sick often to be honest. That's weird?
My PCP said he will put me on a strong antibiotic starting tomorrow, the name starts with an L. The last time I was on an antibiotics, twice for the chronic sinusitis and URI, in October, I drank pretty heavily the whole time during both. The ENT gave me an initial rd of antibiotics that didnt touch it. Then the next rd was something stronger, a macroglide, a few weeks later and it seemed to quell it to where the wheezing stopped. I may have missed a day taking them too that 2nd rd.
Anyway, they'll do a scan after this rd of antibiotics. PCP will.refer me to a Pulm. Prob end up w the bronchscope which scares me. I have to get the Chest ct.images to Pulm too.
I am anxious to see what a pulm will say.
This started w a mediastinal node ("pre tracheal para region"that measured 1.6 on Neck Scan. ENT viewed that image of that node and said the shape and hilum? looked normal.as well as two.cervicals that were 1.5. ENT said Chest Scan referall was not urgent or STAT but should do it per radiologist.
Chest.CT references a pretracheal node 1.0 that looked "reactive"
My cbc w differential was all in normal range except absolute lymphocytes were just below normal range (.94). Neutrophils were high (72) and barely.within normal.range. NRBC were zero. I checked old labs from few yrs ago and absolute Lcytes were low then but just a little higher (1.20) My pcp.said my wbc has tended to run on lower side. Maybe alcohol induced? I had a hematologist look at me few yrs back when wbc went to 2.8. He said alcohol and vitamin B12 deficiency?
Most recent WBC were back in normal range just on lower end.
I was a daily heavy drinker for years until this all started. I am using this to make a serious change. I just pray it is something I can get through to really enjoy max benefits.
I.dont know if any of this indirectly can be associated with alcohol. I am seeing inflammation as a recurring problem.
I Drank r wine and beer daily, usually in a short pd of time before bed to wind down. Bad habit I know.
Another bit of info is I have severe OSA. I didn't do a good job of cleaning cpap either. Bad habit I know.
I had an upper GI as well mid Oct and had gastritis and candidas (Dr said from antibiotics)
Your reply meant the world. I tend to.go.worst case scenario and can't see things in actuality.
I have done enough Looking to know nodules can be common, especially with lung infections. The last thing my ENT said was perhaps my upper respiratory infection settled into lower respiratory and has just been festering even though my wheezing is gone?? I am just speculating again, so I will stop. I just try to convince myself there's hope. I have already started researching cancer facilities, etc ..I know bad habit.
I have rambled on. I thank you for this forum and being able to get things out.
Thank you again.