Recurrent pneumonia, a diagnostic challenge

Abstract

Recurrent pneumonia in children is a rare situation, and foreign body (FB) aspiration is always an important cause to discard, especially in young children. We report a case of a 20-month-old boy with a history of recurrent pneumonia since 13 months of age, associated with chronic diarrhea and failure to thrive. After extensive investigation, chest computed tomography raised the possibility of an FB aspiration, and bronchoscopy confirmed a right upper lobe bronchus obstruction by a fragment of chicken meat. A high degree of clinical suspicion is essential to diagnose inhaled FB, which should be considered in the presence of recurrent pneumonia, even if there was not a known episode of choking.

Keywords

• recurrent pneumonia
• foreign body
• aspiration
• inhaled foreign body
• bronchoscopy
• pneumology