UNUSUAL PULMONARY COMPLICATIONS RESULTING FROM PROLONGED LODGING OF NONOPAQUE FOREIGN BODY IN LEFT MAIN STEM BRONCHUS

Abstract

DELAY in the diagnosis and the removal of a nonopaque foreign body from the bronchopulmonary tract may lead to severe and irreversible pulmonary damage. The case reported here serves well to illustrate the gamut of pulmonary complications which follow a prolonged sojourn of a nonopaque foreign body involving the left main stem bronchus. REPORT OF CASE The patient, a boy aged 10, was first seen by a general practitioner on Dec. 1, 1946. A brief history obtained from the parents revealed that several days previously he had been taken with sudden attacks of coughing and bronchial wheezing. Because these symptoms had increased in severity and there was now a marked elevation of temperature, he was sent to the local hospital to undergo roentgen examination of the chest. The radiologist reported moderate bilateral pulmonary infiltration suggesting bronchopneumonia (fig. 1 A ). Penicillin and symptomatic therapy were immediately begun. Three days later, on