50-year-old man with progressive dyspnea

Dental foreign body aspiration is a known complication in patients with maxillofacial trauma. Although diagnosis may be delayed, especially in elderly people with radiolucent dental appliances, clinician must be aware of dental tracheobronchial aspiration to minimize potentially serious consequences. We present a 50-year-old man with three months history of progressive dyspnea due to foreign body aspiration occluding distal trachea. The patient had a history of car accident with facial trauma and denture fracture two years before presentation. Fiberoptic bronchoscopy revealed almost totally obstructing mass-like lesion with nodular infiltration in distal trachea. The patient underwent rigid bronchoscopy and a piece of denture with three teeth was extracted

Determination of trace elements in patients with chronic hepatitis B

Chronic Hepatitis B virus [HBV] infection is a major liver disease worldwide and its clinical manifestations are linked to immune response. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the relationship between selenium, copper, and zinc in comparison with transaminase level in chronic HBV patients. Serum samples of the HBV infected patients were obtained from Tooba medical center, Sari, Iran. Sixty patients were enrolled in this study [36 men and 24 women], mean age: 39.6 +/- 12.2 years. The concentration of zinc, selenium, copper and transaminases were determined using an autoanalyzer system. Concentrations of selenium [0.273 +/- 0.056 micro g/dl] and zinc [2.1 +/- 0.037] was elevated in patients with low transaminase levels as were significantly different in comparison with patients with high transaminase level [P<0.05]. Serum copper concentration was similar in two groups of patients. Elevated levels of transaminase concentrations were independently associated with low zinc and selenium concentrations in chronic HBV patients. It is concluded that serum zinc and selenium levels are associated with less hepatic damage in chronic HBV patients and might have a protective role during liver injury