Diagnóstico tardío de cuerpos extraños en vía aérea en pediatría en el ospital de Especialidades Carlos Andrade Marín / Late diagnosis of foreign bodies in pediatric airway in the Carlos Andrade Marín Specialties Hospital

La aspiración de cuerpos extraños es una de las principales causas de ingreso a urgencias y de morbi-mortalidad en Ecuador en pacientes pediátricos. El diagnóstico suele ser tardío, por falta de interés de los cuidadores, o por errores en la valoración. Es importante detectar el cuadro a tiempo, para evitar complicaciones. OBJETIVO. Demostrar la necesidad de un diagnóstico acertado ante la alta sospecha en un cuadro dudoso de aspiración de cuerpo extraño. SERIE DE CASOS. Evaluación de cuatro pacientes de ambos sexos, de entre 11 meses a 15 años de edad con antecedente de ingesta de cuerpo extraño, atendidos en la Unidad Técnica de Cirugía Pediátrica, del Hospital de Especialidades Carlos Andrade Marín, durante el periodo 2019-2020. Se realizó la extracción exitosa mediante broncoscopia rígida en tres de ellos. DISCUSIÓN. La mayoría de pacientes con aspiración de cuerpo extraño suelen ser menores de 5 años de edad, en contraste con éste estudio, donde sólo un paciente estuvo dentro de este rango, y el resto fueron escolares y adolescentes. El cuerpo extraño más común es de origen orgánico; el 50% de los casos observados fue de origen inorgánico. CONCLUSIÓN. El diagnóstico de aspiración de cuerpo extraño se condiciona a la obtención completa de datos sobre la Historia Clínica; requiere una valoración rápida y manejo adecuado por emergencias.

INTRODUCTION. Foreign body aspiration is one of the main causes of emergency room admissions and morbidity and mortality in pediatric patients in Ecuador. Diagnosis is usually late, due to lack of interest of caregivers, or due to errors in the assessment. It is important to detect the condition in time to avoid complications. OBJECTIVE. To demonstrate the need for an accurate diagnosis in the presence of high suspicion in a doubtful picture of foreign body aspiration. CASE SERIES. Evaluation of four patients of both sexes, between 11 months and 15 years of age with a history of foreign body ingestion, attended at the Pediatric Surgery Technical Unit of the Carlos Andrade Marin Specialties Hospital, during 2019-2020 period. Successful extraction by rigid bronchoscopy was performed in three of them. DISCUSSION. Most patients with foreign body aspiration are usually under 5 years of age, in contrast to this study, where only one patient was within this range, and the rest were schoolchildren and adolescents. The most common foreign body is of organic origin; 50% of the cases observed were of inorganic origin. CONCLUSION. The diagnosis of foreign body aspiration is conditioned to the complete collection of data on the Clinical History; it requires a rapid assessment and appropriate emergency management.

Utiity of tests used to diagnose asthma, gastroesophageal reflux and upper airway cough syndrome in patients with chronic cough and normal chest radiography

Despite the clinical significance of cough, research efforts aimed at improving diagnostic capabilities and developing more effective therapeutic agents have been, to date, disappointing in their limited scope and outcomes. Asthma, gastro-oesophageal reflux disease [GERD] and upper airway cough syndrome [UACS] are common causes for chronic cough with a normal chest X-ray [CXR]. To describe the frequency of these three causes in a cohort of outpatients with chronic cough and normal CXR and to identify the diagnostic tests best able to identify the aetiology in the vast majority of cases using the response to specific therapy as a gold standard. Nonsmoking outpatients of both genders who complained of cough for more than 8 weeks and had normal findings on CXR were studied prospectively. All patients were subjected to spirometery [including postbronchodilator reversibility], sinuses CT scan, rhinoscopy, and 24-h esophageal pH monitoring to get "an initial diagnosis". The assumed causes were confirmed by treating them sequentially. "The final diagnosis" depended on a successful response to therapy. Hundred patients were studied: the laboratory tests established initial diagnoses of asthma, UACS, GERD, or various combinations of these in 78 patients, of those; 35 patients [44.9%] had a single cause, 39 patients [50%] had two causes, and 4 patients [5.1%] had all three causes. After treatment of those 78 patients, the final diagnoses were established as follow: 47 patients [60.3%] has a single cause, 28 patients [35.9%] had two causes and 3 patients [3.8%] had all three causes. There was a good agreement between the laboratory tests and the definite causes [agreement in 65 patients [83%] and discrepancy in 13 patients [17%], k > 0.75]. Twelve patients had their diagnoses changed for two causes to a single cause and one patients had the diagnosis changed from three causes to two causes. Asthma, UACS, GERD, or some combination of these represent 78% of the causes of chronic cough in our sample. Therefore, these conditions should be considered first during diagnostic evaluation of patients with chronic cough and normal CXR. Inspite of some discrepancy between initial and final diagnoses, the study identifies the group of diagnostic methods best able to identify the cause in the vast majority of cases of chronic cough including sinuses CT scan, rhinoscopy, pulmonary function tests, and esophageal pH monitoring