Bronchoesophageal fistula secondary to aspiration of tongue adhesion button in a child with glossoptosis
✍ Scribed by Jose Zunzunegui; Jesús López-Herce; Angel Carrillo; Marcelino Prieto; Luis Sancho; Jose Delgado
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 1997
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 7 KB
- Volume
- 23
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 8755-6863
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
✦ Synopsis
A newborn boy with obstructive apnea secondary to glossoptosis was treated by securing his tongue to his lower lip. Soon after, the button that served for posterior fixation became detached and was thought to have been evacuated via the digestive tract. Twenty-two months later the infant presented with pneumonia involving the right lower lobe and hemoptysis, causing an acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). After mechanical ventilation was started marked gastric distention was observed. Esophagography and bronchography revealed a fistula between the right main stem bronchus and the esophagus. During surgical repair the plastic fixation button was found in the bronchial orifice of the fistula. Despite surgical correction of the fistula the child died of refractory respiratory failure.