Diseases That Involve X-rays

There are a number of diseases for which x-rays aid or establish the diagnosis. For example, lung infections, bone spurs and fractured hips. The latter, according to Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine is commonly due to osteoporosis, a reduction of bone mass, or density which causes decreased bone strength in eight million women and two million men in the US.

Anthrax

Davidson's Principles and Practice of Medicine lists anthrax, as a disease due to Bacillus anthracis occurring in farmers, butchers and people handling animal hides or wool. Inhalational anthrax, also called wool-sorters' disease is the most severe form of the disease. The classic appearance of inhalation anthrax on a chest x-ray is mediastinal widening with clear lungs. Some patients also have hemorrhagic pleural effusion. If a patient suspected of inhalational anthrax has a widened mediastinum on chest x-ray, the next step is a CT scan of the chest. Inhalational anthrax has been extremely rare in the United States. According to the Center for Disease Control, inhalational anthrax rarely occurs, with only approximately 20 reported cases in the U.S. in the last century.

Bone Spurs

Cedars-Sinai's website reports that osteophytes, or bone spurs commonly occurs in persons 60 years old and older. They are a growth of normal bone. The spurs are painless, but effect structures like nerves and the spinal cord. Bone spurs can be a problem if they are close to the openings for nerve roots. They narrow and compress nerves. Back or neck pain is the most common sign. A bone spur near a shoulder joint can make raising the arm difficult on the affected side. A shoulder x-ray can show the problem is a golf ball to orange sized deposit of calcium near the joint.

Fractured Hip

According to Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine, approximately 300,000 hip fractures occur in the U.S. per year. Osteoporosis is manifested by fractures of vertebra and hips. It commonly causes a fracture of the head of the femur, the long bone in the upper leg because elderly people commonly fall on their hip. A hip x-ray often shows the ball of the femoral head is displaced from the socket joint of the hip.