Can Spot Seen on Chest X-Ray be Pneumonia?
Q. My mother who is 64 years old has recently gone to the doctor due to falling on ice. She has heart trouble and pleurisy (an inflammation of the pleura, the lining of the lungs, causing pain). They did a chest x-ray and said that she had a mass. They also said that there’s something on the lower left lung and on the upper right lung. They also did a cat scan and then changed the mass to “spots.” She had a skin test done on Friday and the results came back negative today. They have given her an antibiotic in case the spots are from pneumonia. They said the spots would be gone in seven days if it was pneumonia so in seven days, from the first day, they will do another chest x-ray to see if the spots are still there. What else could this be? She has been having to sleep sitting up due to the pain in her chest, but taking the antibiotic she says her chest isn’t hurting with every breath anymore. Do you think the spots are caused by something that the antibiotic is going to take care of?
