Diagnosing lung cancer - But doctors instead find Playmobil toys in their lungs

Traffic cone from Playmobil is in the lungs of a man for 40 years

A man in the UK has been suffering from persistent cough for a long time. When the person concerned visited a special clinic, physicians determined by an X-ray that an unknown mass had lodged in the lungs of the man. The experts initially suspected that the mass is a tumor. Fortunately for the person concerned, however, the researchers found that the patient had instead inhaled a traffic cone from Playmobil, which had remained in his lungs for decades.

The researchers from the Wythenshawe Hospital and the Royal Preston Hospital found that the patient with a severe cough did not experience a tumor in the lungs, as suspected, but coughed on a Playmobil condom inhaled 40 years ago was due. The physicians published the results of the unique case in the journal "BMJ Case Reports".

A smoker from the UK suffered from a persistent cough for a long time. Doctors initially suspected a tumor in the lungs. Then it turned out, however, that the person concerned had inhaled a toy from Playmobil as a small child. (Image: Stefan / fotolia.com)

Patient suffers airway traffic jam

The man from the UK was a big mystery to his responsible doctors. The patient suffered from an unusual cough. However, it was not a tumor in the lung, as previously suspected, but a Playmobil traffic cone inhaled several years ago. Even the internationally respected magazine BMJ could not resist an ironic headline with a wink to this extraordinary case. Translated is the title of the article "Air Traffic Congestion".

Concerned inhales as a child traffic cone plastic

There is no known case in which it took so long for such symptoms to occur, explain the experts. It seems to be unbelievable, but the affected patient, a 47-year-old man, had already been given a Playmobil toy set as a child and apparently inhaled a plastic traffic cone about one centimeter in size.

Physicians remove traffic cones from the affected person's lungs

The traffic cone apparently remained in the lungs for a long time without causing any problems. Only 40 years later did the sufferer begin to suffer from breathing difficulties, the researchers explain. After the man suffered pneumonia, the person could not get rid of his persistent cough. He also began to suffer from general malaise. At first, it was thought that it could be lung cancer. In a so-called bronchoscopy, however, the cancer diagnosis turned out to be faulty. The doctors instead discovered a foreign body in the lungs - a small plastic part of Playmobil, a traffic cone. The experts were finally able to remove the detected traffic cone relatively easily.

Why has the plastic part not previously led to health problems?

The 47-year-old patient is now back in full health. Meanwhile, his strong cough and the other symptoms have completely disappeared again. But how is it possible that the plastic cone found was not discovered for such a long time and caused no health problems? The reason is probably due to the young age of the person in whom he inhaled the traffic cone, explain the doctors.

Lungs has adapted to the foreign body

Apparently, the affected person's airways have adjusted to the foreign body in the lungs over time. This has caused the respiratory tract to grow around the plastic traffic cone, so to speak, experts say. So the plastic toy was finally embedded in the lung wall.

Patient is back in full health

After the removal of the toy also ended the health problems of the person concerned. Since the man is a longtime smoker, the person concerned and the doctors actually feared the worst - a dangerous tumor in the lungs. The treatment of the man thus led to several immediate successes: The problems of breathing, the persistent cough and the acute fear of lung cancer are overcome and also has the affected a long time lost toys from childhood finally found again. (As)