title: Intrapulmonary foreign body removal under virtual bronchoscopic navigation.
abstract: We report a case of successful removal of a pulmonary foreign body (gauze) using 3-dimensional computed tomography (CT) with virtual bronchoscopy. A 70-year-old woman underwent thoracic surgery for tuberculosis approximately 35 years ago. In 2011, she presented with chronic cough and intermittent fever. A chest CT revealed a soft tissue mass measuring approximately 4.5 cm in diameter in the right residual lower lobe of the lung. On the basis of the chest CT, a foreign body was suspected. The foreign body could not be identified under conventional bronchoscopy because of the presence of multiple bronchial stenoses due to chronic inflammation. Therefore 3-dimensional CT with virtual bronchoscopy was performed to detect the exact location of the foreign body. The foreign body was successfully removed during the navigation, and her symptoms disappeared rapidly.
authors.affiliation: Department of Thoracic Surgery, Clinical Research Institute, National Hospital Organization, Kyushu Medical Center, Fukuoka, Japan. ttake@surg2.med.kyushu-u.ac.jp
authors.forename: Tomoyoshi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Takenaka
authors.forename: Masakazu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Katsura
authors.forename: Yasunori
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Shikada
authors.forename: Kiyomi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Furuya
authors.forename: Sadanori
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Takeo
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001980:Bronchi; D001999:Bronchoscopy / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D005548:Foreign-Body Migration / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D015503:Surgical Sponges; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000379:methods