CT Characteristics and Clinical Findings of Bronchopneumonia Caused by Pepper Aspiration.

Purpose: To explore the computed tomography (CT) features of bronchopneumonia caused by pepper aspiration to improve the diagnosis. Materials and Methods: 28 adult patients diagnosed with obstructive pneumonia caused by pepper aspiration from January 2016 to September 2022 were enrolled. The CT characteristics of bronchial changes and pulmonary lesions caused by pepper were analyzed and summarized. Results: Among 28 patients, the most common symptom was cough (26, 92.9%), followed by expectoration (23, 82.1%). Bronchoscopy revealed that peppers were mainly found in the bronchus of the right lower lobe (n = 18, 64.3%), followed by the bronchus of the left lower lobe (n = 5, 17.9%). In combination with bronchoscopy results, the pepper in the bronchus manifested as circular or V/U-shaped high-density, localized soft tissue, and flocculent opacification in 8 (28.6%), 16 (57.1%), and 3 (10.7%) cases on CT images, respectively. The bronchial wall around the pepper was thickened with localized occlusion (n = 19, 67.9%) and stenosis (n = 9, 32.1%). Regarding adjacent bronchi without peppers, extensive wall thickening with stenosis and/or occlusion was found in 23 (82.1%) cases. Distal pulmonary lesions frequently involved two or three segments (21, 75.0%) and mainly presented as patchy consolidation or atelectasis (24, 85.7%). Conclusion: In combination to a history of eating peppers and clinical symptoms, bronchopneumonia caused by pepper should be highly suspected if U/V-shaped and annular high-density or localized soft tissue density is detected in the bronchi of the lower lobes, accompanied by extensive bronchial wall thickening, stenosis, or occlusion, and consolidation or atelectasis in multiple distal lung segments.

Pulmonary Endobronchial Hamartoma Presenting With Post-obstructive Pneumonia.

Pulmonary hamartomas (PH) are rare but are the most common benign tumors found in the lungs. They are slow-growing and are usually found incidentally on chest imaging during the sixth decade of life. Approximately 10% of pulmonary hamartomas are endobronchial. Rarely, pulmonary hamartomas can cause a spectrum of pulmonary symptoms depending on their size and location. We present a case of endobronchial hamartoma causing airway obstruction and recurrent post-obstructive pneumonia.

A case of surgical treatment for bronchial foreign bodies with obstructive pneumonia.

Children and older adults are prone to unintentional foreign body aspiration. A 69-year-old man with fever and anorexia presented with obstructive pneumonia resulting from foreign body aspiration. Attempts to remove the foreign body using a bronchoscope failed due to its adhesion to the periphery of the bronchus. Although antibiotic therapy did not improve the obstructive pneumonia caused by the bronchial foreign body, surgery enabled an improvement. The surgical specimen showed similar pathological findings as the fine brown granular material observed in root granulomas occurring as a complication following leakage of root canal filling used in the treatment of dental caries. Therefore, the bronchial foreign body may have been a dental filling. Case reports describing surgical improvement of difficult-to-remove bronchial foreign bodies with concurrent infection are rare.

Asymptomatic Broncholithiasis and Aspergillus Infection: A Case Report and Literature Review.

Broncholithiasis coupled with Aspergillus infection is a rare disease of the respiratory system with complex pathogenesis and non-specific clinical manifestations that can be easily confused with other types of infectious diseases of the respiratory system. The lack of pertinent clinical manifestations in patients increases the risk of clinical misdiagnosis, omission, and incorrect treatment plan selection, which can result in permanent lung structural alterations and lung function decompensation and ultimately harm the lung. We report a rare case of asymptomatic broncholithiasis coupled with Aspergillus infection that was treated at our hospital and discuss the pathophysiology, diagnosis, differential diagnosis, and prognostic follow-up course. Furthermore, relevant studies from China and other countries, including this case, were reviewed. We gathered eight reports, summarized their significant diagnoses and treatments for broncholithiasis and broncholithiasis coupled with Aspergillus infection, and discussed their clinical features. Our study may help improve physicians' awareness of these types of diseases and serve as a resource for future diagnosis and treatment.

Obstructive pneumonia with bronchial foreign body: A case report.

The age of predilection for foreign body aspiration into the lower airway shows a bimodal distribution, with the majority of cases occurring in children or infants and in the elderly. Although several pediatric airway foreign bodies have been summarized, in adults, bronchial foreign bodies are relatively uncommon. There are a variety of symptoms induced by airway foreign bodies, although the typical symptoms of some bronchial foreign bodies are cough. Bronchial foreign bodies, especially in the elderly, may have few symptoms and it is necessary for careful identification. Therefore, it is very important to carefully perform medical consultations about current and past medical history. Herein, we report a case of an elderly Japanese with obstructive pneumonia with a bronchial foreign body of fish bone with a long history of cough. It is known that people in some countries such as Japan have a habit of eating fish. Therefore, it is necessary to more carefully explore the possibility of some bronchial foreign body such as a fish bone, when we observe symptoms of persistent cough in such countries.

Features of post-obstructive pneumonia in advanced lung cancer patients, a large retrospective cohort.

BACKGROUND: Post-obstructive pneumonia refers to an infection of the lung parenchyma distal to a bronchial obstruction. Previous experience-based studies reported a high prevalence of this infection among patients with a medical history of advanced lung neoplasia, up to 40-55%. OBJECTIVES: The current study was designed to investigate the features of post-obstructive pneumonia in lung cancer, including its predictors and the discriminants for 30-day mortality. METHOD: Data from medical records at the tertiary University centre, UZ Brussel, were collected retrospectively between January 2016 and January 2021. Patients affected by lung cancer stages III and IV were included. A multidisciplinary team, composed of a pulmonologist, an infectious disease specialist and a chest radiologist, identified patients affected by post-obstructive pneumonia. RESULTS: A total of 408 patients were included, of which 46 (11%) were diagnosed with post-obstructive pneumonia. Multivariable logistic regression for predictors of disease onset found significant differences for squamous cell carcinoma (OR:2.46 p-value: .014) and hilar location of the tumour (OR:2.72 p-value: .021). However, no significant differences were identified with regards to age or comorbidities. Furthermore, 30-day mortality among post-obstructive pneumonia patients was 30%. Multivariable logistic regression for prediction of 30-day mortality found significant differences in CURB-65 score (OR:73.20 p-value: .001) and smoking status (OR:0.009 p-value: .015). CONCLUSIONS: Within this cohort, the prevalence of post-obstructive pneumonia in advanced lung cancer patients was lower than previously reported. Squamous cell carcinoma and a hilar tumour location were two variables associated with disease development, independent of age and comorbidities. Furthermore, a higher CURB-65 score at post-obstructive pneumonia diagnosis was correlated with mortality.

Presentation of Lung Carcinoid Tumor as Post-obstructive Pneumonia.

Carcinoid tumors consist of neuroendocrine cells that produce amines, polypeptides, and prostaglandins. The majority of carcinoid tumors are found in the gastrointestinal system while a minority originate as pulmonary neoplasms. Among lung cancers, carcinoid tumors are rare, compromising 1-2% of lung malignancies in the United States. Lung carcinoid tumors are characterized into typical and atypical classifications. Typical lung carcinoid tumors are often lower grade, slower growing, and more well-defined than atypical tumors. Atypical tumors are also more likely to metastasize than their typical counterparts. The patient presented in this article is a 35-year-old male with a history of recent hospital admission for pneumonia who presented with right chest pain. The patient was admitted eight days prior due to cough and acute hypoxemic respiratory failure secondary to post-obstructive pneumonia. During that admission, which totaled five days, he underwent a bronchoscopy and biopsy for a nodular right infrahilar opaque mass that appeared on computed tomography angiography of the chest. After the workup was negative, the patient was discharged. Three days later, he was re-admitted with continued chest pain. Biopsy results from the initial admission characterized the obstructing infrahilar mass as a carcinoid tumor with positive synaptophysin/ chromogranin stain and low proliferation (Mib1 < 2%). Following his discharge three days later, he was seen in follow-up by cardiothoracic surgery and underwent further imaging studies. Two months later, the patient underwent robotic right middle and lower bilobectomy. Pathologic analysis showed negative excised nodes and tumor margins. Often, patients presenting with post-obstructive pneumonia are thought to have an underlying etiology that is purely infectious. This can lead to a delay in the discovery of the primary cause of the obstruction, and the underlying malignancy. Fortunately for this case, a biopsy was performed during the initial hospitalization, which led to a modification of his treatment plan early on in his second hospital stay after the tumor was characterized.

Case report: A tracheobronchial schwannoma in a child.

Neurogenic tumors of the tracheobronchial tree are extremely rare, and these include neurofibroma and schwannoma. The rare schwannoma most frequently is reported in adults. We will report an endobronchial schwannoma in an 11-year-old boy.

Case report of thoracoscopic resection for broncholithiasis with severe obstructive pneumonia.

Broncholithiasis is a rare disease characterized by bronchial erosion or distortion due to hilar or parenchymatous calcification. When a broncholith has no mobility and there is a risk of major bleeding if removal is attempted, surgical intervention is required. Most operations for broncholithiasis are performed via a thoracotomy, and bronchial lithotripsy under complete video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery has been reported only rarely. We have experienced a case of broncholithiasis with severe obstructive pneumonia that was treated successfully by video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery. Thoracoscopic surgery is an effective treatment for broncholithiasis because it is minimally invasive and aids smooth recovery after surgery. When the adhesion between the pulmonary artery and the bronchus is highly advanced, it is advocated to cut them together using an endostapler.

Bronchial mucoepidermoid carcinoma, recurrent asthmatic symptoms, and pneumonia presenting in pregnancy.

We report the case of a 37-year-old pregnant Japanese woman (34th week of gestation) with a left main bronchus mucoepidermoid carcinoma. She had left lower lung pneumonia episodes for eight weeks that had been associated with bronchial asthma. Bronchoscopy revealed a membranous endobronchial tumour obstructing most of the left main bronchus. We delivered the baby without any problems by caesarean section, followed by tumour cauterization using a rigid bronchoscope under general anaesthesia. After that, we performed a sleeve resection of the main left bronchus. At one-year follow-up, the patient was disease-free and her baby was growing well.