title: Value of helical computed tomography in the early diagnosis of esophageal foreign bodies in adults.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the relationship between early use of computed tomography (CT) and complications associated with esophageal foreign body impaction in adults.
  
  
  METHODS
  A retrospective study was performed on 120 patients (63 females, 57 males, median age 50 years) with a history of foreign bodies. All had negative findings on clinical examination. All cases underwent unenhanced helical CT, and patients with positive findings underwent esophagoscopy within 6 hours. All patients were followed up postoperatively.
  
  
  RESULTS
  CT demonstrated 100% sensitivity, 92.6% specificity, 100% negative predictive value, and 97.9% positive predictive value. Esophageal foreign bodies were associated with a high incidence of complications in adults, and there was a significant difference in the incidence of complications between different durations of impaction (P < .01). In total, 37 patients presented with complications: 32 patients with grade I, 3 with grade II, 2 with grade III, and 0 with grade IV.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Esophageal foreign bodies were associated with a high incidence of complications in adults. CT could detect foreign bodies accurately in the early stages, and then FBs could be removed as early as possible, which may reduce the incidence of complications. Moreover, the great majority of complications were of lower grades. Thus, CT may be a useful first-line radiological tool for the early diagnosis of esophageal foreign bodies in adults.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology, The First Affiliated Hospital, College of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310003, China. Electronic address: hangzhouliuzhen@163.com.
authors.forename: Yong-Cai
authors.initials: YC
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Shui-Hong
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Ling
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ling
mesh_terms: D042241:Early Diagnosis; D004945:Esophagoscopy; D004947:Esophagus / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D005260:Female; D005547:Foreign Bodies / Q000150:complications / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D036542:Tomography, Spiral Computed