Bronchial Foreign Body Consisting of a Crab Claw Tendon Diagnosed as Chronic Bronchial Asthma: a Case Report

Background. A bronchial foreign body (BFB) can cause chronic coughing. The misdiagnosis of a BFB consisting of a crab claw tendon as bronchial asthma is unusual. Case. An 82-year-old man with chronic asthma was admitted to another hospital due to pneumonia. Computed tomography revealed a BFB in the left main bronchus. The patient habitually ate crab claws and had unknowingly aspirated part of one. He had been treated as an asthma patient for some time; however, a flexible bronchoscopic examination revealed that a crab claw tendon had deeply penetrated the bronchial mucosa in the left main bronchus. The BFB was extracted using a flexible bronchoscope and microwave coagulation therapy (MCT), and his chronic cough diminished immediately post-removal. Conclusion. Flexible bronchoscopy and MCT were successfully used to safely remove a crab claw tendon, eliminating asthmatic symptoms.