[Foreign body imitating bronchial neoplasm].

A case of 53 year-old male admitted to the Clinic with fever and persisting cough with a muco-purulent secretion, varying in intensity for about 4 months, was presented. Prior to the admission to the Clinic the patient was treated with antibiotics, which only slightly relieved the symptoms mentioned above. The patient was admitted to the Clinic with diagnosis of chronic bronchitis, right sided bronchopneumonia with a suspicion of lung cancer. Performed chest X-ray seemed to confirm this diagnosis. Later on, tomography scans and bronchoscopy demonstrated a foreign body in the bronchus. Bronchoscopy not only allowed to exclude neoplastic change but also enabled us to "treat" the patient by extracting his molar tooth remained in the main right bronchus, which caused purulent inflammatory changes in this bronchus. After subsequent antibiotic therapy patient's general condition improved and radiological chest image returned to normal. Persistent cough and recurrent fever are often the symptoms of the lung cancer. It should be emphasised that in the observed case longterm treatment of these changes lasted for 4 months without chest radiological examination.