title: Occult foreign body in the lung mimicking bronchogenic carcinoma.
abstract: Undiagnosed and retained foreign bodies in lungs may result in serious complications such as pneumonia, atelectasis or bronchiectasis. We describe a clinical scenario of chronic and recurrent cough in a 41-year-old woman with no comorbidities. Her chest CT scan was suggestive of a mass lesion in the right main bronchus. Bronchoscopic examination showed no growth; instead, note was made of a plastic foreign body. The foreign body was retracted using a rigid Bronchoscope. The patient admitted unintentionally aspirating this plastic object when she was in her early 20s but denied any serious respiratory complication at that time or later. However, she was admitted 6 years prior to current presentation with pneumonia and discharged home following parenteral antibiotic therapy. On retrieval of the foreign body her clinical condition improved and she has been following up at our clinic for the past 2 years.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pulmonary Medicine, King Abdul Aziz Specialist Hospital Taif, Taif, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Bader Jaber
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Alharthi
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, College of Medicine, Taif University, Taif, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Ibrahim
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Masoodi
authors.affiliation: Department of CVTS, King Abdul Aziz Specialist Hospital Taif, Taif, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Majed A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Almourgi
authors.affiliation: Department of Pulmonary Medicine, King Abdul Aziz Specialist Hospital Taif, Taif, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Seham
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Alzahrani
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001980:Bronchi; D001987:Bronchiectasis / Q000209:etiology; D001999:Bronchoscopy; D002283:Carcinoma, Bronchogenic / Q000175:diagnosis*; D003371:Cough / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology; D005260:Female; D005547:Foreign Bodies / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis*; D006801:Humans; D011014:Pneumonia / Q000209:etiology*; D001261:Pulmonary Atelectasis / Q000209:etiology; D053120:Respiratory Aspiration / Q000150:complications*; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed