Pneumonia, Multiple Pulmonary Infarction and Abscess Caused by a Bamboo Stick Accidentally Piercing into Chest: a Case Misdiagnosed as Pulmonary Tuberculosis

Computed tomography (CT) examination is the major measure for detecting and diagnosis of foreign bodies in human body. Although CT has high sensitivity in diagnosis of foreign body, some interference factors may still lead to missed diagnosis or misdiagnosis. Here we report a rare case that a bamboo stick accidentally pierced into the left chest of a young man who was drunk and unware of this hurt. The patient experienced cough, chest pain, fever, hemoptysis, and was misdiagnosed as primary and secondary tuberculosis based on chest CT examinations at a local hospital, although no tubercular bacillus detected by sputum smear. He subsequently received anti-tuberculous treatments in the following three years, but no improvement of his symptoms was observed. Until one month before his death, the bamboo stick was detected by spiral CT examination as well as three-dimensional image reconstruction at another hospital. Postmortem examination revealed pneumonia, pulmonary infarction, and abscess as the causes of his death. We analyze the potential reasons of misdiagnosis in this case, aiming to provide reference for the diagnosis and treatment of pulmonary inflammation associated with foreign body in the future.