Foreign Body Aspiration Presenting with Asthma-Like Symptoms

Aspiration of a foreign body into the tracheobronchial tree is rare in adults. In the majority of these cases there is an underlying condition such as mental retardation, depressed mental status, impairment in the swallowing reflex, neurological impairment, alcohol or sedative abuse, or complication...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Jennifer C. Kam, Vikram Doraiswamy, Javier F. Dieguez, Joan Dabu, Matthew Cholankeril, Mayur Govind, Richard Miller, Marc Adelman
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Hindawi Limited 2013-01-01
Series:Case Reports in Medicine
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2013/317104
Description
Summary:Aspiration of a foreign body into the tracheobronchial tree is rare in adults. In the majority of these cases there is an underlying condition such as mental retardation, depressed mental status, impairment in the swallowing reflex, neurological impairment, alcohol or sedative abuse, or complications from dental manipulations that contributed to the aspiration. These patients are commonly misdiagnosed with asthma and typically do not respond to mainstay anti-inflammatory and/or bronchodilator therapy. We describe the case of a patient with a foreign body aspiration in the upper trachea not recognized by radiographic studies that presented with asthma-type symptoms.
ISSN:1687-9627
1687-9635