A foreign body in the mediastinum as a cause of chronic cough in a 10-year-old child with asthma

Abstract

Introduction: Chronic cough is a common problem faced by pediatricians, with a reported prevalence of 20% among preschoolers. It is also the most frequent symptom of asthma. Many causes of chronic cough may also be possible causes of asthma exacerbations.

Case study: We describe a 10-year-old boy with asthma, which was admitted to the hospital with a persistent dry cough for five months. Initially, he was treated as an exacerbation of asthma; however, a subsequent chest X-ray identified a wire during the next hospitalization. Although the wire was not found during bronchoscopy, a CT scan located the wire in the mediastinum.

Results: The patient required urgent thoracic surgery, ending with the extraction of a 3 cm-long metallic wire. The history revealed that he had choked on a pizza shortly before the onset of coughing: it is most likely that the foreign body had been aspirated, and that it may have originated from a metal brush used to clean the oven. However, it is difficult to determine whether the wire was originally aspirated into the airways or into the gastrointestinal tract; from the latter, it would have perforated either the bronchus or esophagus and migrated to the mediastinum.

Conclusion: The symptoms associated with aspiration or ingestion of a foreign body in the upper aerodigestive tract can simulate other pediatric diseases, such as asthma, and delay the correct diagnosis. Our findings demonstrate that chronic cough in children with asthma is not always a result of exacerbation. Precise interviewing and correct interpretation of basic diagnostic testing may be key for setting an accurate diagnosis.

Keywords:

• chronic cough
• foreign bodies
• mediastinum
• asthma
• child

Disclosure statement

The authors report no conflict of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.

Financial disclosure

The authors have no financial relationships relevant to this article to disclose.