Inflammation of the lungs is an extremely dangerous disease for the patient's life and health. What to choose for its quick diagnosis, fluorography or x-ray? A qualified doctor will not even think about this question, since the answer is obvious to him. But it is difficult for a person far from the field of medicine to understand the essential difference between these two relatively similar methods. Does fluorography show pneumonia? We will devote part of the material to this issue. And also we will analyze effective methods for diagnosing the disease.
What is fluorography?
First of all, you need to understand the features of this diagnostic method in order to understand whether fluorography will determine pneumonia.
Fluorography is already a traditional way of screening the health status of citizens. And immediately note that this is a preventive method. That is, he is not assigned to make a specific diagnosis, but gives general information in the framework of the same annual medical examination (medical examination).
Will fluorography show pneumonia in the early stages? The answer will be positive. The main objective of this method is precisely to detect tuberculosis, cancer and pneumonia in the early stages.
First devices
Does fluorography show pneumonia and bronchitis? This question has been of interest to patients for a long time, namely since the introduction of the first fluoroscopes. The devices were designed on a special luminous monitor to visualize the pulmonary edges.
Even such a technique, completely outdated in modern realities, helped to identify alarming infiltrative foci in the lungs. Further, to determine the cause of their occurrence, doctors used an X-ray in lateral, direct and additional projection.
The very first devices had a significant minus: they were not at all harmless. Recall that a preventive safe dose of radiation exposure is 1 mSv per calendar year. And while undergoing fluorography, a person already received 0.5 mSv of radiation.
Did fluorography show pneumonia? The classic method could determine the disease, but the examination was not completely harmless to the patient. Therefore, over time, for the early diagnosis of lung-dangerous diseases, medicine gradually switched to a digital technique.
Advantages of Digital Fluorography
If we turn to the present, then most medical clinics are equipped with digital fluorographic devices. Their first advantage is a reduction in the patient's radiation dose. The second is getting better pictures.
How was the image combined with the classic method of fluorographic examination? X-ray ionizing rays passed through the human body, reflected on the film. If the specialist improperly selected the exposure mode that screened the grate, the result was a poor-quality image. But for the patient, he "cost", as you recall, half the permissible dose of radiation.
With the digital method, you can get high-quality images, observing a minimum of conditions. Does fluorography show pneumonia when used? Yes, it allows you to determine the development of the disease in the early stages.
Advantages of X-ray examination
We have already said that fluorography (both classical and digital) is primarily a preventative measure. The patient is contacted by a physician with symptoms of pneumonia. X-ray or fluorography is prescribed in this case? The most suitable study to detect an infiltration lesion in the lungs is an x-ray taken in two projections.
Even a classic radiograph, unlike fluorography, shows a clear clinical picture. For example, it allows you to visualize shadows up to 5 mm in diameter. Namely, they distinguish the development of such dangerous pathologies as pneumonia, sarcoma, tuberculosis.
Why do x-rays of the chest in two projections? This allows the most complete study of the structure of damaged tissue, which is crucial in making the correct diagnosis. For example, a direct projection cannot demonstrate calcification of the ribs, but the lateral projection renders them very well.
So does fluorography show pneumonia? Yes, but only the "picture" is not so clear, it does not allow to judge the nature of the lesion (shadows, blackouts) as well as with an X-ray examination. A fluorogram is sufficient to notice destructive changes in the lungs, but not enough to make an accurate diagnosis, on which the success of the cure will depend.
When is x-ray prescribed?
An x-ray examination of the chest organs is prescribed in two cases:
- If a preventive examination (fluorography) as part of the medical examination revealed a suspicion of lung cancer, pneumonia or tuberculosis. An X-ray is needed here to confirm or refute the diagnosis.
- If the patient consults a physician with complaints that are signs of serious lung disease. He is immediately assigned an x-ray of the chest. Fluorography is not able to show clear boundaries of the infiltrative spot in case of focal organ inflammation, miliary tuberculosis, etc.
Thus, a study using fluorography for pneumonia is not carried out due to the futility of the technique, which is necessary only for the early diagnosis of pathologies.
Digital X-ray Diagnostics
We figured out if fluorography can show pneumonia. It is also important to distinguish its digital technique from digital x-ray diagnostics. Both of these methods are modern, but there are key differences between them.
Digital x-ray examination differs from the classical one in that the image is not recorded on film, but is fixed on a special transducer-sensor. The received frames are easily read by electronic devices and a large number of software applications.
Today, the following types of modern (digital) x-ray diagnostics are distinguished:
- Luminescent radiography.
- Selenova.
- X-ray diffraction through an electron-optical converter.
The advantages of the new technique are not only the simplification of recording pictures on a storage medium. The main advantage is a reduction in the dose of radiation to the person being examined. Hence the second name of modern digital technique - low-dose lung x-ray diagnostics.
Comparison of fluorography and radiography
Will fluorography show pneumonia (pneumonia)? Yes, most often subject to two conditions:
- The size of the infiltrative foci is more than 5 mm.
- Lesions are located in clean areas of the pulmonary fields.
However, there are cases when fluorography showed a false suspicion of pathology. He was denied by a subsequent x-ray examination, which is more accurate, better. It will be decisive in the diagnosis.
Fluorography is also inferior in terms of the clarity of the resulting image - its resolution will be very low. Even when using modern digital techniques. Hence, the infiltrative spot is additionally examined on x-rays.
Surely the reader had the question: “If the radiography is a more accurate and high-quality examination, which immediately allows you to make a diagnosis, why should they not be replaced by fluorography at medical examinations?” This will help save both time and money for conducting surveys.
The point is the patient’s dose. This indicator even of innovative digital radiography will significantly exceed the corresponding indicator of fluorography. Therefore, the undoubted advantage of the latter lies in greater security (especially with regard to digital techniques).
When treating a patient with symptoms of lung cancer, pneumonia, he will definitely be assigned an x-ray - the main basic diagnostic method for these pathologies. Then they resort to it to control the state of health, the success of the selected therapy.
What signs of pathology can be seen in the picture?
Will fluorography show pneumonia in the picture? It is interesting to know for many examined patients. However, only a qualified specialist who has the proper training and experience can interpret the image correctly.
But the x-ray shows the following signs of disease:
- Single focal dimming. It just allows you to judge the development of pneumonia.
- Tuberculomas. Limited tuberculous lung cavities.
- Bronchial cysts. The expansion of the cavities of the walls of the bronchi.
- Hamartoma. A type of benign tumor that affects cartilage.
- Cancer metastases in the lungs.
Note that the focal single dimming specialist will notice on the fluorogram and on the x-ray.
However, the detected spots cannot absolutely accurately indicate the development of such serious pathologies as lung cancer or pneumonia. The patient needs to undergo a number of additional examinations. Important among them are laboratory tests.
Also, the specialist always does not forget to check the detected focal spot for its good quality. This is what allows us to identify cancerous tumors in the early stages.
How does a specialist determine pneumonia in the picture?
To determine the characteristic signs of pneumonia on an X-ray image, the doctor uses many methods. The main here will be the following deviations captured on the frames:
- Single spots - focal pneumonia, multiple spots - extensive pneumonia.
- Segmental seals are single-sided, double-sided.
- The nature of enlightenment and blackout in the pictures.
- Changes seen in the roots of the lungs.
What is unable to "see" the x-ray in the lungs?
Will fluorography and x-ray show pneumonia in the pictures? As we have already noted, fluorography can "miss" small infiltrative spots in the lung tissue, whose size is less than 5 mm. They are also poorly traced on the roentgenogram. Only when these foci merge with each other, forming larger units, the picture can be used to judge the specific signs of pneumonia (focal or segmental).
Thus, neither x-ray nor fluorography will be the only accurate diagnostic methods. The minimum that modern equipment can detect is focal pneumonia.
An X-ray examination for today still can not reveal the following types of pneumonia:
- Small focal pneumonia.
- Small infiltrates that are located deep in the lung tissue.
- Strong airiness of organ tissue.
The main radiological signs of pneumonia
In conclusion, we will tell you by what the main signs on the X-ray image can be judged precisely about the inflammation of the lung tissue. It:
- Medium-intensity foci of infiltrates.
- Fuzzy contours of infiltrative spots.
- Strengthening the pattern of the lungs (can reach the borders of the pulmonary field).
- The condensed, expanded root of organs.
So, fluorography helps to detect pneumonia, tuberculosis and lung cancer in the early stages. Therefore, it is common at preventive medical examinations. The exact diagnosis is made on the basis of an x-ray. However, sometimes it is not enough, therefore, laboratory diagnosis is required to determine some forms of the disease.