Solitary Pulmonary Nodule

[candigrl63]

hello. i am female
45 years old with mild asthma i have not smoked in 13 years. i have had a cough for over a year. frequently with green phlegm. doc said it was post nasal drip. i had an xray six month ago and it was clear
i have had chest pain
upon inhaling and burning sensation. doc gave me antibiotics. phlegm no longer green. chest pain is gone. had a ct no contrast. it reads on supine inspiratory images, there is an ill defined area of ground glass opacity in the lateral segment of the left lobe and there is a noncalcified nodule measuring approximately 8mm , with surrounding ground glass opacity in the inferior centralCentral aspect of the anteriour segment of the right upper lobe. there is no bronchial wall thickening, bronchiectasis, or interstitial fibrotic change. impression: air trapping on the expiratory images, suggesting reactive airways disease. small ground glass infiltrate in the left lower lobe. right upper lobe nodule. does this mean i have lung cancer???

[Davy9]

Given your recent history I would think it is more likely areas of infection or a areas where an infection was once concentrated. The lungs are the only internal system designed and intended to be exposed to the outside air. At their healthiest, if laid flat they would cover a full tennis court. Of course they are a network of well laid out airways leading to clusters of gas exchanges alveoli appearing somewhat like grapes. Normally those airways remain open at the end of exhalation so that the beginning of the next breath has easy access to any part of the lungs. But with diseases such as asthma and even the normal processes of aging those airways become compromised, especially on exhalation when they often close down completely. On inhalation they open up and let air in but on exhalation they do not let all the air out. That's air trapping. But the same situation can also trap anything that happened to get in there. That leads to infections, chronic sub-acute infections and full blown infections. Those areas can encapsulate, scar, etc....

Still I cannot tell you for certain that this is not a type of cancer. If it should turn out to be the history you have provided suggests that you would have caught the process early enough to be treated.