Lung Ultrasound Leading to a Diagnosis of Bronchial Foreign Body

Case Report

Austin J Pulm Respir Med 2016; 3(2): 1044.

Lung Ultrasound Leading to a Diagnosis of Bronchial Foreign Body

Jean-Eudes Bourcier*, Marion Babinet and Didier Garnier

Emergency, Anesthesiology and Critical Care Department, Lourdes Hospital, France

*Corresponding author: Jean-Eudes Bourcier, Emergency, Anesthesiology and Critical Care Department, Lourdes Hospital, 2 Avenue Alexandre Marqui 65100 Lourdes, France

Received: June 20, 2016; Accepted: June 25, 2016; Published: June 28, 2016

Abstract

A 78 years old lady presented to the Emergency Room (ER) due to a threemonth persistent cough despite symptomatic treatment and a short corticosteroid therapy. Clinical examination and lung ultrasound revealed an atelectasis of the left lower lobe. The etiologic assessment concluded to a bronchial foreign body.

Case Presentation

A 78 years old lady presented to the emergency room with a three-month history of dry cough. She came in the afternoon of a day off, her general practitioner being absent, despite her appointment with her chest physician on the following day. She consulted the ER because the cough became debilitating.

Her past medical history was significant for a hypothyroidism and a well-controlled post-infective cylindrical bronchiectasis. Her last pulmonary function test did not show any sign of obstructive airway defect: Forced Vital Capacity (FVC) 2,37L; Forced Expiratory Volume in 1 second (FEV1) 1,84 L; FEV1/FVC ratio 77,6%; Residual Volume (RV) 1,27 L, Total Lung Capacity (TLC) 3,77L; Diffusing Capacity (DLCO) 18 ml/min/mmHg. The patient showed no active or passive smoking history, and no known allergy was to be reported. She described a dry cough which appeared gradually over several weeks, predominantly during the night and went crescendo for the last ten days. The patient consulted her general practitioner the previous week and was treated by antitussive syrup and systemic corticosteroids for three days. On this lap of time, she did not feel any improvement despite the subscribed treatment.

On admission, the patient had a dry cough and exhibited no sign of respiratory distress: her respiratory rate was normal, she was not cyanotic, and her oxygen saturation was 95% without oxygen supplementation. Pulmonary auscultation noted a silence in the left lung base. Pulse, blood pressure and temperature were normal.

Lung ultrasonography performed by the Emergency Physician (EP) highlighted a pulmonary atelectasis associated with a left basal pneumonia (Figure 1).

Citation: Bourcier J-E, Babinet M and Garnier D. Lung Ultrasound Leading to a Diagnosis of Bronchial Foreign Body. Austin J Pulm Respir Med 2016; 3(2): 1044. ISSN:2381-9022