title: A rare case report of tracheal leech infestation in a 40-year-old woman.
abstract: Leeches are the very rare types of airway foreign body. Here we report a rare case of a 40-year-old woman with tracheal leech infestation. A 40-year-old woman presented 2-month history of dyspnea, occasional haemoptysis. There were foreign body sensation in throat, cough and hoarseness. Computed Tomography (CT) revealed some soft tissue shadow in the upper trachea. Eventually a 5 cm long living leech was smoothly removed from trachea by rigid bronchoscopy under sevoflurane general anesthesia. The airway leech infestation should be kept in mind especially in patients presenting with unexplained haemoptysis, dyspnea, hoarseness and a foreign body sensation in the throat and a history of drinking infested water from streams, pools and spring. General anesthesia might be necessary for the removal of the leech.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anaesthesiology, West China Hospital, Sichuan University Chengdu, Sichuan, China.
authors.forename: Peng
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Anaesthesiology, West China Hospital, Sichuan University Chengdu, Sichuan, China.
authors.forename: Rui
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, West China Hospital, Sichuan University Chengdu, Sichuan, China.
authors.forename: Jian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zou
authors.affiliation: Department of Anaesthesiology, West China Hospital, Sichuan University Chengdu, Sichuan, China.
authors.forename: Tao
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Zhu
keywords: Foreign bodies; leeches; trachea