On chest x-ray the picture of fibrosis of shrinking of a lung, old fibrous cavity (one or several), pleual depositions are defined. At fibrous cavernous lung tuberculosis the cavity settles down among rough lung fibrosis, its walls are deformed, are dense, are thick more often. Quite often at the bottom of the cavities the small level of a liquid is defined.
At an aggravation and progressing of the process, the sites of infiltration are visible around a cavity. Sometimes fibrous cavity comes to light only at tomography, as on chest x-ray the shadow of a cavity can be closed by layering shadows of the focuses, fibrosis and pleural stratifications. The picture of fibrosis and shrinking of lungs are found out in the upper lobes, with a predominant defeat of one of them.
Mediastinum and trachea are shifted to the site of biggest defeat. The upper lobes are reduced in volume, their transparency is sharply lowered because of hypoventilation. Architecture of the lung tissue is sharply distorted because of rough fibrosis. The transparency of lungs is often increased owing to inflation.
Usually in both lungs groups of focuses of various intensity are visible.
The roots, as a rule, are displaced up. The large vessels are defined as direct, equal regular – a so-called symptom «of the tense string».