[Radiographic evaluation of the clinical course and outcome in acute pneumonias]

The authors review the data of x-ray functional examinations of 525 patients with acute parenchymatoys pneumonia, 393 convalescents after pneumonia 3-6 months after the disease and analyze 480 case histories of patients, hospitalized for acute pneumonia 10 years ago. Development, x-ray picture, and resolution of the process are described. Besides traditional x-ray examination, roentgenography in oblique projections and pulmonary sonography are recommended in order to specify the anatomic changes in the lungs. Functional peculiarities of the involved and intact lungs were studied. Altogether 92.4% of convalescents are discharged from hospital with changed pulmonary pattern and, rather often, with infiltration of the parenchyma in the subpieural portions of the involved lobes and segments, as well as with disordered respiratory function of the lungs. Unfavorable outcomes in remote period after disease (pneumosclerosis, pneumocirrhosis, emphysema, chronic pneumonia) are observed mainly in subjects discharged from hospital before complete clinical cure.