I have chronic cough. Please explain my CT thorax report.

Question

Hello doctor,

The computed tomography (CT) thorax report for chronic cough in comparison made to chest radiograph. 5 mm nodule seen within the left upper lobe. No other discrete pulmonary nodule or mass is identified. 0.51inch short axis pretracheal lymph node is identified. Calcifications noted within a normal-sized subcarinal lymph node. No enlarged axillary or hilar lymph nodes are identified. Mediastinum and great vessels are otherwise unremarkable. Osseous structures are unremarkable. Can you please help me to understand the report.

Answer 1

Hello,

Welcome to icliniq.com. I understand from your description that you have a chronic cough and did a computed tomography (CT) Thorax, but I am confused as there are no CT images attached. Still, I will try to help you with this report. It says, 5 mm nodule seen within the left upper lobe and 0.51 inch short axis pretracheal lymph node with calcified normal-sized subcarinal lymph node. Rest of the lung parenchyma is normal. I suppose it could be due to an old infection, may be tuberculosis (primary) which went unnoticed and it has nothing to do with the present situation. So you should not worry about this CT findings and try to find out any other cause of chronic cough. You have not elaborated your history in detail to guess any other cause. I advise doing a spirometry test to rule out asthma. It is the most common cause of chronic cough with normal x-ray or CT chest.