What does a white chest x-ray indicate?

The article is professionally consulted by Master, Doctor Trinh Thi Phuong Nga - Radiologist - Department of Diagnostic Imaging and Nuclear Medicine - Vinmec Times City International Hospital. The doctor has nearly 20 years of experience in diagnostic imaging.

A white lung or white chest x-ray is a phenomenon observed during chest x-ray in some patients with problems with the respiratory organs, especially the lungs. This phenomenon, also known as white lung disease, affects the patient's health status and needs to be detected and treated promptly.

Before an individual is admitted to the hospital for periodic health checks, or there are some abnormal signs related to the respiratory organs such as cough, difficulty breathing... or some other reasons, they will usually be indicated. X-ray chest x-ray to investigate the condition of organs in the chest such as heart, lungs... This method uses radiation energy from X-rays to pass through organs in the chest to record images at This can help doctors combine with clinical signs to discover the cause of disease in that patient.
Depending on the nature of each organ, the X-ray absorption of those organs will be more or less, resulting in images on X-ray films that will be black, white, gray with different degrees of intensity. together. In clinical practice, some cases show white X-ray images in 1 or both of the patient's lungs, or sometimes the X-ray images are fainter than normal, nodular. At the top of the lung or the lung has white and cream spots followed by clinical symptoms such as coughing up sputum, shortness of breath, these will be typical signs to guide the diagnosis to white lung disease in these cases. . This is a disease related to disorders of the respiratory system due to insufficient oxygen supply to the lungs, causing the lung image on X-ray to be partially or completely white.

White lung is defined as a disease caused by lung damage, unilateral or bilateral pulmonary fibrosis, gradually losing oxygen exchange function, causing clinical symptoms such as shortness of breath. According to researches in the world, there are many causes leading to white lung disease, or sometimes no cause can be found, but some typical reasons are common in clinical practice as follows:
Smoking Smoking or inhaling secondhand smoke: People who smoke cigarettes daily in large quantities will have a very high risk of lung-related diseases such as white lung, tuberculosis, pneumonia, pleural effusion and lung cancer. In addition, people around when inhaling cigarette smoke will also face the risk of white lung disease, sometimes even higher than those who directly smoke, especially children when they smoke. Inhaling cigarette smoke makes you more susceptible to illness.
The erratic change of weather: Some influences from the weather can make patients more susceptible to respiratory diseases, such as dry cough, persistent cough with phlegm, pneumonia, inflammation bronchi ..., and if this condition recurs many times and is not completely treated, it will be a favorable condition for white lung disease to arise.

Pollution of living environment: The surrounding environment is polluted because there is too much smoke, dust, toxic chemicals released from industries that will cause respiratory diseases for people living, in which have white lung disease. If the nature of work must be done in environmental conditions containing toxic substances such as Uranium, Asbestos and Arsenic, there will be a higher risk of white lung disease and lung cancer than people who do not work in these areas. such environment.
Besides clinical signs such as cough with sputum, dry cough, shortness of breath..., a paraclinical means to support the diagnosis will be indicated such as chest X-ray or other imaging methods. other images such as computed tomography of the lungs. Results such as white X-ray images of the lungs or computed tomography of the lungs showing white clouds will help guide the finding of the cause of the disease, from which there will be appropriate treatment methods. To treat white lung disease, besides taking drugs according to the regimen given by the treating doctor, the patient also needs to change some bad habits in his lifestyle such as giving up smoking to reduce smoking. Reduce the risk of disease for yourself and those around you, as well as prevent the possibility of unwanted complications.
Complications left when the patient has white lung disease are:
Abscess – lung abscess or pus pockets inside the lung. Pneumonia, coagulation of parenchymal lobes of the lung. Pleural effusion Septicemia is a severe white lung condition, with a lot of inflammation of the alveoli and other tissues in the lungs, from which the bloodstream causes infection. bacteremia and later infection of other organ systems in the body if not detected and treated early. Acute respiratory distress syndrome.

White lung is an extremely dangerous disease, which can lead to a variety of other injuries in the body, especially for children, the elderly with some underlying diseases, pregnant women and those with other diseases. other immunocompromised individuals. Therefore, it is necessary to have methods to prevent this dangerous disease, including:
Limiting the inhalation of secondhand smoke from the surrounding environment, can find a private space or ask people around not to smoke. cigarette. Wear a mask in crowded places Drink water every day in the amount needed for the body. Eat nutritious food to strengthen the immune system. Maintain an exercise regimen suitable for your own health. Clean your nose and mouth with physiological saline every day to prevent infection. Periodic health check to detect disease in time. When you have any unusual symptoms, immediately go to the medical facility for examination and timely diagnosis.

Leukemia is a disease diagnosed when a patient has abnormal respiratory symptoms such as cough, shortness of breath... along with white X-ray images or white lung CT scans. This is a dangerous disease and has the potential to leave serious complications to the patient's health, so it should be detected and treated as soon as possible.
Currently, chest X-ray technique is a routine technique at Vinmec International Hospital to diagnose respiratory diseases in general and lung diseases in particular. In order to improve the quality of medical examination and treatment, in addition to being fully equipped with modern medical systems and machines, and international standard X-ray machines, Vinmec also designs general health check-up packages suitable for patients. each customer's age, gender and unique needs with a reasonable price policy.
In the above health checkup packages, the patient will have an in-depth examination with a team of specialists and perform diagnostic imaging methods such as X-ray, blood test, urine test, etc. ...
The patient's examination results will be returned to his/her home. After receiving the results of the general health examination, if you detect diseases that require intensive examination and treatment, you can use services from other specialties at the Hospital with quality treatment and services. outstanding customer service.