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James L. Hargis, MD; F. Charles Hiller, MD; Roger C. Bone, MD

JAMA. 1978;240(22):2469.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings.

IF AN aspirated foreign body is not expelled by cough, the patient may become totally asymptomatic, and a diagnosis may not be made until complications arise later.¹ A chest roentgenogram usually shows a radiopaque foreign body; however, the diagnosis of a small or a radiolucent foreign body requires a high index of suspicion and careful bronchoscopy. Situations have been described in which the presence of a foreign body was not diagnosed until part of the lung was removed as treatment for abscess, bronchiectasis, or a suspected tumor.²

We describe an unusual presentation of an aspirated foreign body. Although the object was radiopaque, its presence on the initial chest roentgenograms was not detected.

Report of a Case

In May 1977, a 58-year-old mentally retarded man had a persistent cough, and a chest roentgenogram showed a right upper lobe infiltrate. He was treated with penicillin G procaine, and a repeated . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

Author Affiliations
From the Pulmonary Division, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock.

Footnotes
Reprint requests to Pulmonary Division, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, 4301 W Markham, Little Rock, AR 72201 (Dr Hargis).

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