Iron pill aspiration - Lung
The patient had been ingesting iron pills but there was no known history of aspiration. This is not unusual. The diagnosis of aspiration is often initially made by microscopic examination of lung tissue by pathologists. Aspiration often goes unrecognized by both clinicians and pathologists. In a review of 59 surgical lung specimens exhibiting aspiration pneumonia, aspiration was suspected clinically in only 4/45 (9%) of cases in which a clinical impression or differential diagnosis was provided (PMID 17460460). In a report of one hundred consecutive granulomas in a pulmonary pathology consultation practice, it was determined that aspiration pneumonia was the condition most commonly unrecognized by the referring pathologist (PMID 20871220).
Images contributed by Dr. Phillipe Joubert - @PjoubertPatho
Iron pill aspiration - Lung
The patient had been ingesting iron pills but there was no known history of aspiration. This is not unusual. The diagnosis of aspiration is often initially made by microscopic examination of lung tissue by pathologists. Aspiration often goes unrecognized by both clinicians and pathologists. In a review of 59 surgical lung specimens exhibiting aspiration pneumonia, aspiration was suspected clinically in only 4/45 (9%) of cases in which a clinical impression or differential diagnosis was provided (PMID 17460460). In a report of one hundred consecutive granulomas in a pulmonary pathology consultation practice, it was determined that aspiration pneumonia was the condition most commonly unrecognized by the referring pathologist (PMID 20871220).
Images contributed by Dr. Phillipe Joubert - @PjoubertPatho