A patient of severe motor and intellectual disability with a foreign body retained in the esophagus for two months.

Abstract

We report a patient with a foreign body in the esophagus for two months that was endoscopically-removed. A 15-year-old patient with ring chromosome 14 syndrome presented for routine follow-up visit. She could not have meaning words placed to Oshima classification 1. Upon physical examination, she presented with sweating, tachycardia, and swelling on the anterior aspect of the neck. Her thyroid function was normal. Even after follow up for two months, her condition did not improve. Therefore, she was referred to our hospital. Neck computed tomography revealed a foreign body within the esophagus, and endoscopic-removal was performed. Subsequently, tachycardia and sweating improved. Foreign body ingestion in patient with severe motor and intellectual disability is difficult to diagnose because of the patient’s inability to communicate owing to the severe cognitive impairment. Thus, the diagnosis is delayed and the condition may progress in severity. It is therefore important that a detailed interview of the family is conducted, in case with similar presentation, ingestion of a foreign body should be considered as a differential diagnosis.