Treatment of Occult Bronchial Foreign Body with 30-Year Retention: A case report / 대한흉부외과학회지

ABSTRACT

Occult bronchial foreign bodies are rare in adults, whereas tracheobronchial aspiration of foreign bodies occurs commonly in children. Treatment guidelines, according to the severity of the bronchial or lung parenchymal damage and the duration of foreign body retention, have not been established. A 40-year-old man with chronic cough, sputum production, and fever was transferred for treatment of right middle and lower lobe collapse and obstructive pneumonitis as evidenced by imaging studies. He had aspirated the cap of a felt-tipped pen 30 years before presentation, which was unrevealed until his medical history was carefully reviewed during this episode. The patient was treated with right middle-lower bilobectomy because fiberoptic bronchoscopic removal of the foreign body failed. This case added important information to our body of knowledge concerning the various clinical features of occult bronchial foreign bodies.