The diagnosis of pneumonia for many people sounds like a sentence. Do not prematurely succumb to panic, because modern medicine offers a solution to this problem. The patient can be completely cured, provided that the disease is diagnosed in a timely manner. Here we will talk about one of the types of pneumonia - focal pneumonia. The pathology is quite dangerous, localized in a limited area of lung tissue. The disease can be a complication of other ailments, such as bronchitis or tonsillitis. However, in most cases, it acts as an independent ailment. The inflammatory process, first of all, attacks the bronchi, and then it covers the rest of the territory. In this article, we will consider the symptoms and treatment of focal pneumonia, and also talk about the causes and preventive measures.
Terminology
The mechanism of the origin of this pathology is associated with the penetration of infection from the bronchi to the lung tissue. If you start treatment in a timely manner, you can cope with the disease and prevent complications. Focal pneumonia is one of the varieties of the disease when the inflammatory process is localized in a limited area of the lung tissue. For diagnosis, the patient will need to undergo a series of studies. The most effective methods include physical and radiological. Often the doctor prescribes a sputum and blood test.
It is worth noting that focal pneumonia occurs quite often, in about two cases out of three. The infectious process originates from the thermal bronchi, capturing the lobe of the lung. The virus can enter the body through the bronchi, blood and lymph. When contact occurs between the pathogen and tissues, an allergic reaction develops with the involvement of the alveoli. As a result, mucus production increases, inflammatory fluid accumulates. If you ignore the symptoms and do not start treatment, purulent inflammation forms in the alveoli. The disease spreads to all parts of the lung, which leads to pleurisy.
What is arising from?
In most cases, the disease in question is secondary, as it occurs as a result of complications of respiratory diseases. In addition, one of the main causes of pneumonia is the activation of a secondary infection, which develops due to bronchitis, scarlet fever and other similar ailments. Pathogens include a variety of viruses and bacteria. They can enter the lungs through the blood or bronchi.
Foci of inflammation are formed on the bronchi, and then pass to the alveoli and lung tissue. They can be small or large, sometimes they merge. However, the foci do not extend beyond the lobule. Factors that influence the occurrence of focal pneumonia:
- nervous breakdowns, stress, tension;
- malnutrition, deficiency of vitamins in the body, the presence of bad habits, such as smoking and alcohol;
- chronic pathologies, infectious diseases;
- overheating or hypothermia of the body;
- lack of physical activity, maintaining a sedentary lifestyle;
- violation of the integrity of the walls of blood vessels, which contributes to the development of dangerous diseases.
Key features
The disease is quite severe. Doctors will be able to detect pneumonia by the characteristic symptoms in the form of painful sensations in the chest, chills, etc. The manifestation of the symptoms can be different: in some cases they gradually develop, and in others they immediately take on an acute form. Usually, the progression of the pathology begins with catarrh of the upper respiratory tract. It is worth noting that the signs are less pronounced if the disease is secondary. In such a situation, accordingly, it will be more difficult to diagnose the disease.
So, the main symptoms of focal pneumonia include:
- an increase in body temperature to thirty-eight degrees and above;
- pain in the chest area, wet cough;
- headache and dizziness, increased sweating;
- weakness of the body as a whole, decreased appetite, fever.
The severity of symptoms directly depends on the state of the body's immune system and the type of pathogen. In most cases, the disease in the initial stages proceeds smoothly, the first signs gradually appear. The patient has a fever, sweating, headaches, cough with sputum.
Possible complications
The consequences in case of untimely treatment are divided into two types: pulmonary and extrapulmonary. A sharp decrease in immunity or the development of focal-confluent lesions leads to them. The latter option is characterized by the fact that the deformation affects several parts and even the whole lobe of the lung.
The most dangerous complications of focal pneumonia of a pulmonary nature include:
- exudative pleurisy, lung gangrene ;
- acute respiratory failure, lung destruction, abscess.
With regard to extrapulmonary consequences, there are:
- myocarditis and meningitis, toxic shock;
- anemia, sepsis, pericarditis.
The most common complication is the already mentioned acute respiratory failure. The disease occurs on the basis of a violation of gas exchange in the respiratory organs. With good treatment and proper diagnosis of the consequences can be avoided.
Focal pneumonia in children
As you know, inflammation of any kind in the body of a small child is always dangerous, because the consequences can be the most serious. In this case, the difficulty will be that the signs of pneumonia are very similar to the symptoms of bronchitis, and it is not always possible to diagnose the disease right away. Parents should not draw conclusions independently regarding the baby’s disease, it is better to immediately contact a doctor. Focal pneumonia in children is often the result of acute respiratory pathology, such as influenza or SARS.
The children's body is more vulnerable than the adult, so the infection easily seeps into the bronchi of the child. In such a situation, compliance with preventive measures against the main pathogens will be an excellent option. According to statistics, children with a weak immune system, anemia, rickets suffer from pneumonia. In addition, children at risk of serious illness and children with heart disease are at risk. If your child belongs to one of the above categories, you need to carefully monitor his health, especially respiratory system disorders. Only a timely visit to a specialist and effective therapy can cope with focal pneumonia.
Classification. Acute form of the disease
There are several types of disease, we will consider the main ones.
The acute form is the most common option. Symptoms include chills, fever and cough (initially dry, and after a few days with sputum, purulent discharge is sometimes observed). Chills torment the patient for about ten calendar days. The high temperature lasts a long time, even after taking effective medicines, the indicator does not fall below thirty-seven degrees.
Acute focal pneumonia is also detected by the presence of dry rales and hard breathing. This can be verified by a specialist using a phonendoscope. Radiography in this case will be a very informative study. The foci of lesion are clearly visible in the picture. These methods will allow you to diagnose the disease, treatment should be started as soon as possible.
Left and right defeat
It is worth noting that right-sided focal pneumonia occurs in practice much more often than left-sided. This is due to the structural features of the lungs. In patients suffering from this form of pathology, the following symptoms are observed:
- pain in the chest with a deep breath;
- wet cough, stalking the patient for days, sometimes sputum discharge with streaks of blood;
- elevated body temperature, the presence of pain in the chest on the right, even at rest.
The disease itself is characterized by the fact that in the lung there are areas affected by infection at different stages. Treatment can only be effective in a hospital setting under the strict supervision of a physician.
Do not forget about left-sided focal pneumonia, despite the fact that it is quite rare. The detection of this pathology using x-ray is impractical, because the lung is close to the heart. Accordingly, it will be very difficult to consider the affected areas in the image. In this situation, the patient is referred for computed tomography and ultrasound. Left-sided pneumonia will not pass in a few days, so you need to psychologically prepare for long-term treatment.
Bilateral form of pathology
It is easy to guess that bilateral focal pneumonia is more dangerous than the forms considered above. A disease of this kind has very striking symptoms:
- heat that is unrealistic to bring down
- severe pain in the chest area, especially when taking a breath.
Do not forget about the terrible cough with purulent sputum and impurities of blood clots. The patient feels very poorly, while the skin changes color, turns blue. Treatment of this pathology is possible only in a hospital under the strict supervision of a doctor. Combination therapy will be most effective.
In medicine, there is such a thing as community-acquired focal pneumonia. This name was taught to pathology due to the fact that infection of the disease usually occurs outside of medical institutions. The infection enters the body during contact with the environment, at home or at the time of stay among a large number of people. Community-acquired pneumonia often develops in the lower respiratory tract.
Focal-drainage pneumonia
Unlike other forms, other symptoms are observed here, as the area from several segments to the entire lung is affected. The patient suffers from a severe wet cough with abundant discharge of purulent discharge. A temperature of thirty-eight or thirty-nine degrees lasts quite a long time. Also, breathing goes astray, becomes uneven, the damaged side clearly lags behind. Plus, symptoms like nausea and vomiting appear. In most cases, this is due to intoxication of the body.
Treatment of focal pneumonia of this type should be carried out only in a hospital. Indeed, at home, it is impossible to effectively cure such a pathology.
Diagnostics
You need to be very careful about your health in order to avoid situations when the disease has turned into a serious illness. When the first symptoms appear, you should immediately contact a specialist. Focal pneumonia refers to pathologies that, with improper and untimely treatment, bring a huge number of problems. Based on this, we can conclude: the disease must be treated, regardless of the cause.
Identification of pathology contributes to recovery in a short time. This information is especially important for people who do not like to visit a doctor and think that everything will go away on its own. Typically, the patient is assigned a differential diagnosis of focal pneumonia. As we have already noted, pathology is difficult to detect due to the similarity of symptoms with other diseases. However, there are several procedures by which you can recognize the ailment:
- ultrasound and radiography;
- tests of urine, blood and sputum;
- biochemical testing, invasive methods.
No matter what form of the disease has been diagnosed, therapy is urgently needed.
Drug treatment
It is worth noting that drug therapy is quite effective in combating pneumonia. Specific drugs are prescribed individually. After making a diagnosis, doctors recommend taking broad-spectrum antibiotics. The duration of such treatment of focal pneumonia varies from five days to two weeks.
Let us consider in more detail which drugs and under what conditions are usually prescribed:
- If an acute form of pathology is detected, it is recommended to take sulfonamides. The best representatives of this group are Bactrim, Biseptol and Sulfalen.
- To cope with the infection, use "Remantadine" or immunoglobin.
- Drugs such as Antipyrine, Erespal, and Etimizol will help get rid of the inflammatory process.
- When a patient is tormented by a dry cough, Codeine and Glauven will greatly alleviate the condition of the victim. If sputum discharge predominates, try Lazolvan and Bromhexine.
I must say, only the attending physician prescribes medicines, you do not need to select medications yourself, this can end badly.
Preventative measures
As you know, it is easier to protect yourself and your loved ones from the occurrence of pathology than to then deal with it. In this case, it is enough to follow the preventive recommendations so as not to get bronchitis or the flu. First of all, think about seasonal vaccinations. This is an excellent defense, although units are used. Try not to visit public places during outbreaks of infectious diseases.
Of course, no one has canceled the general rules:
- wash hands constantly, especially after visiting public places;
- carry out hardening of the body in the absence of contraindications;
- healthy lifestyle, quit smoking and drinking alcohol;
- make the right diet, be sure to wash vegetables and fruits before eating.
When the attending physician offers hospitalization, there is no need to refuse. Treatment in a hospital will give a greater effect than at home. The doctor will constantly monitor the patient, monitor the course of the disease. Thus, you can always make the necessary adjustments to the course of treatment. It is better to follow all the recommendations of doctors, then the probability of a positive outcome increases significantly.