We report a patient who unknowingly aspirated denture material in association with a motorcycle accident in 1974. After a number of hospital admissions over 10 years for recurrent right-lower-lobe pneumonia, in 1984 he underwent rigid bronchoscopy that revealed the foreign body. The radiolucent nature of the denture material may have accounted for several earlier failures to detect it. Recurrent pneumonia in the same lung segment, especially in a younger person without underlying disease, should arouse suspicion of foreign-body aspiration.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
SchneiderPE. Foreign body aspiration and ingestion during dental treatment. Compend Contin Educ Dent1982;3(3):173–176.
2.
WolkveN, KreismanH, CohenC, FrankH.Occult foreign body aspiration in adults. JAMA1982;248:1350–1352.
3.
MusemecheCA, KosloskeAM. Normal radiographic findings after foreign body aspiration. Clin Pediatr1986;25:624–625.
4.
CassonAG, GuyJRF. Foreign body aspiration in adults. Can J Surg1987;30(3):193–194.
5.
CottonE, YasudaK.Foreign body aspiration. Pediatr Clin North Am1984;31:937–941.
6.
BlazerS, NavehY, FriedmanA.Foreign body in the airway: A review of 200 cases. Am J Dis Child1980;134:68–71.
7.
GruenbaumM, AdlerS, VarsanoI.The paradoxical movement of the mediastinum. A diagnostic sign of foreign-body aspiration during childhood. Pediatr Radiol1979;8:213–218.