[Bronchial foreign body as a differential diagnosis for asthma. Report of a case and review of the literature].

The aspiration of foreign bodies into the airway is a common problem in childhood, mainly in children younger than 10-years old. Foreign bodies located in the tracheobronchial tree can cause episodic cough, dyspnea and wheezing, and generate a misdiagnosed of asthma if physicians do not consider the possibility of a bronchial foreign body as a differential diagnosis of this disease. In these cases, chest X-ray films are very important because those can show the most of foreign bodies or indirect radiographic signs of a bronchial foreign body. Nowadays, bronchoscopy is the method of choice for removal foreign bodies from the tracheobronchial tree. If there are not complications, most of patients may recover and become non-symptomatic in a short-term after the foreign body extraction. We show the case of a nine years old boy who suffered the aspiration of a tack, which stayed in a bronchi during several years, and was misdiagnosed as asthmatic.