Li Pengyu, Chen Xianmeng, Chen Wanling, Huang Yunchao, Tan Xiangxiu, Chen Ying
Thoracic Department I, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University, Peking University Cancer Hospital Yunnan (Yunnan Cancer Hospital), Kunming, China.
Northeast Yunnan Central Hospital of Kunming Medical University Thoracic Department, Northeast Yunnan Central Hospital, Zhaotong, China.
Front Oncol. 2025 Jun 16;15:1572523. doi: 10.3389/fonc.2025.1572523. eCollection 2025.
Airway obstruction is a ventilatory dysfunction caused by internal and external diseases of the respiratory tract, which is usually considered a life-threatening clinical emergency. Traditionally, airway obstruction can be caused by respiratory tumors, trauma, and foreign bodies, among which tumors are the most common. Consequently, physicians may prioritize tumor-related diagnoses, potentially leading to the misdiagnosis of rare non-neoplastic conditions. Here, we report a case of a 61-year-old adult traveler who initially presented with mild dyspnea and a bronchial space-occupying lesion on a CT scan, raising suspicion of an airway tumor. However, further examination confirmed the diagnosis of a living leech infestation in the bronchus, resulting from a trip to Laos. This case highlights the importance of thorough history-taking and critical thinking in clinical diagnosis, urging physicians to avoid overreliance on intuition or experience alone.
气道阻塞是一种由呼吸道内外疾病引起的通气功能障碍，通常被认为是危及生命的临床急症。传统上，气道阻塞可由呼吸道肿瘤、创伤和异物引起，其中肿瘤最为常见。因此，医生可能会优先考虑与肿瘤相关的诊断，这可能导致对罕见的非肿瘤性疾病的误诊。在此，我们报告一例61岁成年旅行者的病例，该患者最初表现为轻度呼吸困难，CT扫描显示支气管占位性病变，怀疑为气道肿瘤。然而，进一步检查确诊为支气管内活水蛭感染，病因是前往老挝旅行。该病例凸显了在临床诊断中全面问诊和批判性思维的重要性，促使医生避免仅过度依赖直觉或经验。
