Fish bone foreign bodies in the pharynx and upper esophagus: evaluation with 64-slice MDCT. (February 2014)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Park, Soyeon; Choi, Dae Seob; Shin, Hwa Seon; Cho, Jae Min; Jeon, Kyung Nyeo; Bae, Kyung-Soo; Koh, Eun Ha; Park, Jung Je
• Is Part Of: Acta radiologica. Volume 55:Number 1(2014:Feb.)
• Page Start: 8
• Page End: 13
• Publication Date: 2014-02
• Subjects: Foreign body -- fish bone -- multidetector computed tomography -- pharynx -- esophagus; Radiology, Medical -- Periodicals; Radiography, Medical -- Periodicals; Radiotherapy -- Periodicals; 616.0757
• DOI: 10.1177/0284185113493087
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0284-1851

Abstract

Background: Fish bone (FB) is one of the common causes of foreign body impaction in the pharynx and esophagus. Purpose: To investigate the efficacy of 64-slice multidetector computed tomography (MDCT) for the evaluation of pharynx and upper esophageal FB foreign bodies. Material and Methods: Sixty-six patients with suspected FB foreign body ingestion were examined by plain radiography ( n = 40) and unenhanced MDCT ( n = 66). We analyzed the presence, location, size, shape, and lying position of the foreign bodies. Results: On MDCT, 46 foreign bodies were detected. Among them, 45 were confirmed by endoscopy. The sensitivity of MDCT for the detection of foreign bodies was 100%, which was superior to that of the plain radiography (51.7%). The location of the foreign bodies was most common in the upper esophagus ( n = 22, 47.8%), followed by pharyngoesophageal junction ( n = 10, 21.7%), transjunctional ( n = 7, 15.2%), hypopharynx ( n = 5, 10.9%), and oropharynx ( n = 2, 4.3%). Their longest length was 5.3–40.1 mm (mean, 21.3 mm). Thirty-three FBs (71.7%) were linear and 13 (28.3%) were flat in shape. They showed transverse ( n = 23, 50.0%), parallel ( n = 13, 28.3%), and oblique positions ( n = 10, 21.7%) to the long axis of the pharynx and esophagus, respectively. Conclusion: MDCT is useful for the evaluation of the pharynx and upper esophageal FB foreign bodies.