Accurate Diagnosis with Chest CT for Bronchial Foreign Body Removal in Young Patient: Report of Three Cases and Review of the Literature

Abstract

Foreign body aspiration (FBA) is a common accident and remains a serious problem in young children. Undiagnosed and retained FBA could be a life-threatening risk and causes serious complications especially for young children. To prevent complications, prompt diagnosis and removal of foreign body is mandatory. Chest computerized tomography (CT) has recently become a very useful noninvasive diagnostic modality for bronchial FBA. We present here three different patients with bronchial FBA, which had been diagnosed by chest CT and completely removed under ventilating bronchoscopy without complication. The authors reviewed the literature and discussed the usefulness of chest CT on bronchial FBA in children.