A Diagnosis of 25 Cases of Radiolucent Foreign Body in the Tracheobronchial Tree

During last 13 years from 1972 to 1984, 28 cases of foreign body in the tracheobronchial tree were treated in our clinic. The 28 foreign bodies were classified into two categories, i. e. radiolucent and radiopaque, and the ratio was 25:3 respectively. In 16 of radiolucent 25 cases, by their histories, physical findings and chest X-rays tracheobronchial foreign bodies were suggested. In 4 of those 16 cases Holzknecht's signs were useful for the diagnosis. In other 9 cases with a negative findings in simple chest X-ray, foreign bodies were found by tomography for 2 cases, radionuclide lung scanning for 5 cases and CT scans for 2 cases. We discussed the results from the viewpoint of the methods the detection of the radiolucent tracheobronchial foreign body in detail.