Role of virtual and flexible bronchoscopy in the management of a case of unnoticed foreign body aspiration presented as nonresolving pneumonia in an adult female

It is not so common to aspirate foreign body in normal adults without any predisposing factors as compared to children and those with the altered neurological state. Endobronchial foreign bodies are one of the causes of obstructive pneumonia and difficult to diagnose as signs and symptoms are often nonspecific. However, once they are diagnosed, they can generally be removed, leading to rapid and drastic resolution of symptoms. Bronchoscopy is the gold standard in the identification and localization of an airway foreign body and also for better management of the ailment. However with the help of virtual bronchoscopy one can decide the location of the foreign body before any invasive intervention and being noninvasive it can be performed in follow-up easily to check the patency of airways. It is not possible to detect the exact size of foreign body with the virtual bronchoscopy. In this article, we report a case of unnoticed foreign body aspiration in a 49-year-old female patient who was initially treated for pneumonia. However, due to nonresolution of opacity contrast enhanced computed tomography thorax with virtual and flexible bronchoscopy were performed, which revealed a foreign body in the right lower lobe bronchus that was removed with biopsy forceps in piecemeal. In her follow-up visit, she underwent virtual broncoscopy that revealed clear airways. Thus, detailed history and high index of suspicion is required for nonresolving pneumonias that may occur due to unnoticed foreign body/ies in an adult.