Old foci in the lungs are irreversible pathological changes in the lungs that once existed and became fibrotic or calcified after the disease was cured.
Diseases that cause old lung lesions include tuberculosis, pneumonia, interstitial lung disease, etc. Various factors act on the lung tissues, resulting in lesions in the lung tissues, and the human body has the ability to repair the diseased tissues, and most of the lung lesions can be repaired effectively after the disease is cleared.
However, some lung tissues are difficult to be repaired to good condition after injury, mainly calcification or fibrous repair (similar to skin scarring), this part of the lung tissue will not cause necrosis after repair, but it will not have the physiological function of normal lung tissue, and there will be old foci of lungs when it is examined again.
There is no need to worry about old lung foci, but if larger old foci may lead to dyspnea and chest tightness, it is recommended that the patient go to respiratory medicine or thoracic surgery to find out the cause of the disease and treat it in a timely manner.