title: A bitter pill to swallow.
abstract: Foreign body aspiration can be a life-threatening emergency requiring immediate intervention. However, unlike in children, clinical presentation of foreign bodies in adults often varies with regard to symptoms and signs and occurs without asphyxia. We here describe the case of a 65-year-old man on maintenance hemodialysis who developed dyspnea and left chest aspiration pneumonia after swallowing one tablet of the phosphate binder sevelamer. This case illustrates that elderly patients with swallowing complaints should be taken serious when they complain about their subsequent frustration of ingestion of their pills.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nephrology, Medical School Hannover, Hannover, Germany.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: David
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Merscher
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Schmidt-Guertler
authors.forename: J T
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Kielstein
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kirchhoff
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Meier
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001980:Bronchi; D001999:Bronchoscopy; D002614:Chelating Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D005547:Foreign Bodies / Q000175:diagnosis*; D006801:Humans; D001239:Inhalation; D008297:Male; D011073:Polyamines / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D013902:Radiography, Thoracic; D006435:Renal Dialysis; D000069603:Sevelamer; D013607:Tablets
chemical_list: D002614:Chelating Agents; D011073:Polyamines; D013607:Tablets; D000069603:Sevelamer