Bengaluru: Betel nut in woman’s lung mistaken for TB

Bengaluru: A 66-year-old woman, who showed symptoms of lung infection, was wrongly diagnosed with tuberculosis and treated for the same in a Chikkaballapura hospital. But a thorough examination at a Bengaluru hospital revealed her lung had a foreign object — a betel nut she had unknowingly swallowed — which caused the complications.

While accidental swallowing of foreign bodies is common among children, doctors say it’s rare in adults. Laxmi Narassamma, from a village in Chikkaballapura district, had been suffering from chest pain for the past few months. After doctors at a hospital in Chikkaballapura town said it was tuberculosis, she was taken to Pr-akriya Hospitals in Bengaluru.

Pushpa Latha, the patient’s daughter-in-law, told TOI, “We are glad that we opted for a second consultation in Bengaluru. The doctor was really helpful and my mother-in-law has completely recovered now. She was admitted to the hospital on October 27, underwent a procedure and was discharged a day later.” Dr Ganesh Pratap, a pulmonologist from Prakriya Hospital, said, “We decided to do a bronchoscopy, wherein the doctor examines the inside of the lungs, including the bronchi, which are the main pathways into the organs. A thin tube containing a light and camera is inserted into the lungs through the nose or mouth. It revealed the existence of a foreign particle. Upon close observation, we got to know it was a betel nut which had got stuck in her left main bronchus.”