Department of Respiratory Medicine, Iizuka Hospital, Japan.
Department of Physiology, Hyogo College of Medicine, Japan.
Intern Med. 2021 Oct 15;60(20):3285-3287. doi: 10.2169/internalmedicine.6052-20. Epub 2021 Apr 26.
We experienced a patient who presented with lung abscess one month after aspirating barium during a gastric cancer screening examination. The patient had no subjective symptoms suggesting a swallowing disorder. Rigorous history taking under suspicion of aspiration and a further assessment of the cause of aspiration revealed hypopharyngeal cancer. Lung abscess and hypopharyngeal cancer, both treatable but potentially fatal conditions, were not diagnosed until one month after the aspiration. This highlights the need for guidance for patients and physicians to follow in the event of barium aspiration, as it is the most common complication of a barium examination. A health checkup for one condition (gastric cancer) may also be an opportunity to diagnose another underlying condition.
我们遇到一位患者，在胃癌筛查检查中吸入钡剂一个月后出现肺脓肿。该患者没有任何提示吞咽障碍的主观症状。由于怀疑吸入，我们进行了严格的病史询问，并进一步评估了吸入的原因，结果发现是咽癌。肺脓肿和咽癌都是可治疗但可能致命的疾病，直到吸入钡剂一个月后才被诊断出来。这凸显了在发生钡剂吸入时，为患者和医生提供指导的必要性，因为这是钡剂检查最常见的并发症。对一种疾病（胃癌）进行健康检查也可能是诊断另一种潜在疾病的机会。
