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CC BY 4.0 · Surg J (N Y) 2016; 02(01): e49-e50
DOI: 10.1055/s-0036-1580707
Case Report
Thieme Medical Publishers 333 Seventh Avenue, New York, NY 10001, USA.

Have You Seen My Teeth? A Case with an Extraordinary Radiologic Finding

Serdar Evman
1   Department of Thoracic Surgery, Sureyyapasa Chest Diseases and Thoracic Surgery Training and Research Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey
,
Yelda Tezel
2   Department of Pulmonology, Haydarpasa Numune Training and Research Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey
,
Melis Demirag Evman
3   Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Marmara University Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey
,
Çagatay Tezel
1   Department of Thoracic Surgery, Sureyyapasa Chest Diseases and Thoracic Surgery Training and Research Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey
› Author Affiliations
Further Information

Publication History

27 October 2015

05 February 2016

Publication Date:
14 March 2016 (online)

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Abstract

A 55-year-old man was admitted to the emergency department with severe dyspnea and hoarseness, starting immediately after a hypotensive syncope attack at home. Pulmonary auscultation revealed generalized stridor and right-sided wheezing, with no finding in the upper airway on direct laryngoscopy. Chest X-ray and computed thorax tomography revealed a high-density foreign body on the carina, causing partial obstruction in the right main bronchus. The fractured dental plate, probably aspirated during the syncope attack, was successfully removed by rigid bronchoscopy. The postoperative period was uneventful and the patient was discharged on the same day. Rapid physical and radiologic examination of patients with severe acute dyspnea is vital for determining the treatment modality and preventing any potential mortality.

Keywords

bronchoscopy - computed tomography - foreign body - trachea
 

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