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What Causes Severe Cough Closely Mimicking Pneumonia?
My mother in law was recently ill with a severe cough,just short of getting pneumonia. A chest xray taken at the time was not clear (mirky), so they asked her to come for another one later. Today she was called into the doctor s surgery urgently as her xray result has come back even more mirky than before. She is being sent for a CT scan next week. What are the possible things this could be?
Thu, 26 Dec 2019
Hi,
Noted your history about your Mother-in-law having severe cough, X-ray was murky, repeat X-ray indicates for CT scan which is planned next week.
Since CT scan is not done on urgent basis the probable causes I can think about are as follows:
Cancer of lung.
Pleurisy with collection.
If the suspicion would have been about pneumonia there would have been other symptoms like expectoration of phlegm, fever, chills and so on indicating emergency and admission to the hospital for proper antibiotic and other care.
I would advise in addition the following:
Send sputum for lab for AFB staining, gram staining, culture, sensitivity and fr cancer cells.
Tests of blood for CBC and as advised by your Doctor.
Proper symptomatic and supportive therapy.
Admission to the hospital if required.
Once a proper diagnosis is made treatment will be guided and effective.
Hope I have answered your query. Let me know if I can assist you further.
Regards,
Dr. T. Chandrakant, General Surgeon
Noted your history about your Mother-in-law having severe cough, X-ray was murky, repeat X-ray indicates for CT scan which is planned next week.
Since CT scan is not done on urgent basis the probable causes I can think about are as follows:
Cancer of lung.
Pleurisy with collection.
If the suspicion would have been about pneumonia there would have been other symptoms like expectoration of phlegm, fever, chills and so on indicating emergency and admission to the hospital for proper antibiotic and other care.
I would advise in addition the following:
Send sputum for lab for AFB staining, gram staining, culture, sensitivity and fr cancer cells.
Tests of blood for CBC and as advised by your Doctor.
Proper symptomatic and supportive therapy.
Admission to the hospital if required.
Once a proper diagnosis is made treatment will be guided and effective.
Hope I have answered your query. Let me know if I can assist you further.
Regards,
Dr. T. Chandrakant, General Surgeon
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