Abstract
The early diagnosis of airway foreign body is very important.This paper reported 3 children with peanuts aspiration;a girl aged 20-month, two boys aged 14-and 27-month.In each case, it took 20, 50, and 21 days to make correct diagnosis, respectively.The symptoms had appeared immediately after aspiration in case 1 and 3, but 2 weeks later in case 2.The episode of aspiration was recognized by the first physicians in case 1 and 2, but not in case 3.Previous diagnosis was first asthma exacerbation, acute pneumonia, and common cold, respectively.Partial effectiveness of the treatment (corticosteroid in case 1, and antibiotics in case 2) and symptomless period (in case 2) might explain the delayed diagnosis.Lung perfusion scintigraphy might be helpful for the diagnosis of suspicious airway foreign body cases, because it demonstrated definitive laterality in our all subjects.Unfortunately, it is still not generally known about foreign body aspiration by general physicians and caregivers.To prevent aspiration, we should appeal the need of warning labels on packages of the causative foods.
