Description
Clinical History
A 57-year old male presented with a 3-week history of cough and pleuritic left sided chest pain. Chest x-ray showed left upper lobe collapse with large left sided pleural effusion. Pleurodesis aspirated frank pus from the pleural cavity. He later died despite pleural drainage and antibiotic treatment.
Pathology
This specimen shows the lower trachea and main bronchi. These have been cut open and the left upper lobe has been sliced to display the cut surface. At the point of origin of the left upper lobe bronchus there is an impacted foreign body; an inhaled rabbit vertebra! As a result of the obstruction, the upper lobe has collapsed, pneumonia has developed and the pleural surface is covered by fibrinous exudate. This is an inhaled foreign body with associated collapse and pneumonic consolidation of the left upper lobe and empyema.
Further Information
Inhalation of a foreign body or foreign body aspiration (FBA) occurs when a foreign body is inhaled into the airway causing partial or complete obstruction of the airway. This can potentially be fatal. It is more common in children than adults. It is a leading cause of accidental death worldwide. FBA poses greatest risk of death to those less than 1-year old and patients over 75 years of age.
Risk factors for FBA in adults include decreased level of consciousness, drug or alcohol intoxication, or anesthesia. In the elderly additional risk factors include medication use (impairing cough and swallowing), stroke-related dysphagia, and degenerative neurologic diseases, such as Alzheimer's or Parkinson's disease. In adults, the most commonly aspirated foreign bodies include inorganic items (e.g. nails, pins, dental debris) and organic material (e.g. bones, improperly chewed meat, and watermelon seeds). Symptoms on presentation vary depending on the degree of airway obstruction caused. Larger obstruction may present as choking or sudden asphyxia. Smaller foreign bodies may present with more insidious symptoms such as cough, dyspnoea, fevers, chest pain and hemoptysis. Airway collapse distal to the foreign body will lead to infection. Treatment involves retrieval of the foreign body with bronchoscopy or emergency tracheostomy.
Advantages
- Anatomically accurate and identical to real specimen
- No ethical issues - not real human body parts
- Reasonably priced
- Available within a short lead time
- Reproducible, several identical prints can be used as a classroom set
- Can be produced in different sizes to cater for the needs of the teacher
Human Cadavers
- Access to cadavers can be problematic. Many countries cannot access cadavers for cultural and religious reasons
- Cadavers cost a lot money
- High cost for establishing your own plastination suite
- Wet specimens cannot be used in uncertified labs
- Dissection of cadavers is a lot of staff time and that is a cost
- Storage of cadaver material needs special refrigeration etc. which has coast
- If you want another specimen you have to start all over again
Plastinates
- Costs
- Ethical issues
- Timeframe for plastination process
- Many countries do not allow their importation
- One of a kind
Superior 3D print results compared with conventional methods
- Vibrant color offering with 10 million colors
- UV-curable inkjet printing
- High quality 3D printing that can create products that are delicate, extremely precise and incredibly realistic
Clear Support Material
- To avoid breakage of fragile, thin, and delicate arteries, veins or vessels, a clear support material is printed on such spots. This makes the models robust and can be handled by students easily.
