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X-ray Showing Tenderness In The Lower Rib, Opacity Noted. History Of Lung Cancer And Colon Cancer. Worried
Hello my husband has no coughing, shortness of breath, wheezing phlegm etc, and no back/shoulder pain. but had a chest xray b/c of some touch only prompted tenderness of right lower rib. It revealed an " opacity" (diff area than pain) and the doc ordered a CT scan. His grandfather died of lung cancer. His father a survivor of prostate cancer, his sister a survivor of Colon cancer. he is 40 yrs old and has smoked for 20 years, quitting a month ago. We are very concerned. Outside of pneumonia, are there other non-cancer causes of an opacity? Thank you very much
posted on
Tue, 28 May 2013
Medically reviewed by
Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team
Tue, 28 May 2013
Answered on
Tue, 28 May 2013
Last reviewed on
This could be due to a pleural effusion, it could be due to scar tissue or fibrosis, or it could be due to TB (unlikely but possible).
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