Lung Abscess in Adult with Foreign Body (Tooth)

Lung abscess due to foreign body aspiration in adults is relatively rare and is more common in childhood. The number of patients with lung abscess has decreased because of antibiotic therapy; therefore, chest X-rays in cases of abscesses have decreased. 1 Kim M Lee KY Lee KW Bae KT. MDCT evaluation of foreign bodies and liquid aspiration pneumonia in adults. AJR Am J Roentgenol. 2008; 190: 907-915https://doi.org/10.2214/AJR.07.2766 Crossref PubMed Scopus (23) Google Scholar Chest computed tomography (CT) allows for an improved study of lesions and other associated findings, and when cavitation is present, it allows evaluation of the walls, the content with necrotic fluid, and gas. 2 Stark DD Federle MP Goodman PC Podrasky AE Webb WR. Differentiating lung abscess and empyema: radiography and computed tomography. AJR Am J Roentgenol. 1983; 141: 163-167https://doi.org/10.2214/ajr.141.1.163 Crossref PubMed Scopus (219) Google Scholar In the presence of a foreign body, in addition to axial scans, multiplanar reconstructions and the virtual bronchoscopy technique have made it possible to identify the trachea and bronchial tree and often delimit the foreign body according to its density, shape, or whether it is surrounded by secretions.