Poorly Defined Hazy Opacity

CLINICAL DIAGNOSTIC MANUAL

A poorly defined hazy opacity on a chest X-ray refers to a diffuse area of increased density without clear, well-defined borders.

This finding can indicate a variety of pathological conditions affecting the alveoli and pulmonary interstitium. Common causes include infections, pulmonary edema, pulmonary hemorrhage, and neoplastic diseases.

Accurately identifying the underlying cause requires a combination of clinical evaluation and diagnostic tests.

Pathology	Clinical Symptoms and Signs	Suspected Diagnosis	Confirmatory Diagnosis
Pulmonary edema	Dyspnoea, orthopnoea, pink frothy sputum, wheezing, crackles on auscultation	History of heart failure, acute symptoms	Chest X-ray, chest CT, echocardiogram, arterial blood gas analysis
Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS)	Severe dyspnoea, tachypnoea, hypoxaemia, cyanosis, crackles on auscultation	History of sepsis, trauma, pancreatitis, toxic inhalation	Chest X-ray, chest CT, arterial blood gas analysis, bronchoscopy
Infectious infiltrate	Fever, productive cough, dyspnoea, chest pain	History of respiratory infection, acute symptoms	Chest X-ray, chest CT, sputum culture, blood cultures
Alveolar cell carcinoma	Persistent cough, haemoptysis, weight loss, dyspnoea, chest pain	History of smoking, chronic symptoms	Chest X-ray, chest CT, lung biopsy, PET scan
Pulmonary haemorrhage	Haemoptysis, dyspnoea, anaemia, fatigue, chest pain	History of coagulation disorders, vasculitis, respiratory symptoms	Chest X-ray, chest CT, bronchoscopy, lung biopsy, coagulation studies