An unusual tracheal foreign body in a middle-aged male with a 15-year history of coal use: a case report

Long-term exposure to coal dust causes respiratory disease. In chest computer tomography (CT), pulmonary nodules, pulmonary interstitial fibrosis and emphysema manifest themselves. However, tracheal foreign bodies caused by coal dust are rarely reported. In this study, we report a special case of a...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:BMC medical imaging 2021-02, Vol.21 (1), p.35-35, Article 35
Main Authors: Zhong, Li-Juan, Yan, Min, Wang, Yi, Zhou, Dai-Quan, Tang, Jian-Ming, Xiang, Shou-Hong
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Bituminous coal
Bronchoscopy
Care and treatment
Case Report
Case reports
Chest
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
Coal
Coal dust
Coal dust inhalation
Computed tomography
Cough
CT imaging
Dust
Dyspnea
Emphysema
Energy spectra
Energy spectrum imaging
Equipment and supplies
Fiber optics
Fibrosis
Foreign bodies
Health aspects
Hospitals
Human remains
Inhalation
Lung diseases
Lung diseases, Obstructive
Lung nodules
Middle age
Nodules
Obstructive lung disease
Radiographs
Respiration
Respiratory agents
Respiratory diseases
Signs and symptoms
Surgery
Thyroid
Thyroid gland
Trachea
Tracheal foreign body
Tuberculosis
Vertebrae
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Summary:Long-term exposure to coal dust causes respiratory disease. In chest computer tomography (CT), pulmonary nodules, pulmonary interstitial fibrosis and emphysema manifest themselves. However, tracheal foreign bodies caused by coal dust are rarely reported. In this study, we report a special case of a tracheal coal foreign body, in which the patient has neither a history of coal work nor foreign body inhalation. A 49-year-old man was diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) due to chronic cough and exertional dyspnoea. His symptoms gradually worsened despite treatment for COPD. Chest radiograph and CT images showed an irregular high-density nodule inserting fromthe trachea into the right thyroid at approximately the level of the 7th cervical vertebra. Fiberoptic bronchoscopy revealed that the tracheal lumen was mostly blocked. After the surgery, the energy spectrum CT quantitative analysis showed that the foreign body was likely that of a bituminous coal specimen. For cases in which a foreign body in the airway is highly suspected, early fiberoptic bronchoscopy and radiographic examinations should be performed as soon as possible to avoid misdiagnosis and ensure timely treatment.
ISSN:1471-2342
1471-2342
DOI:10.1186/s12880-021-00561-z