Chest X Ray Was Recorded As Normal..for A Work Visa
Of vessels...no active pulmonary infiltration, nodule or mass. No gross pleural effusion or pneumonia. No cardiomegaly. Visualized bony structure intact. What does this all mean?
Normal chest x-ray.
Detailed Answer:
Hello, thanks for using 'Ask a Doctor'. As with most imaging studies, there are always some findings that patients wonder about, and radiologists tend to use a language of their own. As you might know, x-rays work by creating an image based on the thickness and physical properties of different tissues, creating in a sense a shadow on the x-ray film. In your case, the radiologist saw a slight shadow in the lung tissue of your lower lungs, which he/she couldn't say for sure what it was, but that it appeared to be most likely from the blood vessels to your lungs, which seemed to have converged in those particular spots. The radiologist considered this to be normal, it just so happened the x-ray caught the vessels at just the right angle that it made a slight shadow on your x-ray, which is why it was ultimately recorded as normal.
The other findings are easier to interpret: no pulmonary infiltration, nodule or mass means there was nothing abnormal in the lungs. No gross pleural effusion means there was no fluid seen around the lungs. No pneumonia means that no pneumonia infection was seen. No cardiomegaly means the heart was normal size. Visualized bony structures intact means there were not bone fractures or other abnormalities seen from the bones on the chest x-ray.
I hope that answers your question. Please let me know if you still have any questions or want something clarified more, I'd be happy to help.
Yes.
Detailed Answer:
That's exactly right and well said. Usually when something is actually wrong there will be multiple findings that will point to that diagnosis. The absence of such findings suggest something benign, like shadows from blood vessels. Also, assuming you don't have any symptoms such as a cough or chest pain, this would further confirm it.
Please let me know if you have any other questions. If not, you can close the discussion and rate the answer. Thank you and I hope you have a good time working overseas.