[A rare cause of hemoptysis]

The existence of a bronchial foreign body is an unusual cause of haemoptysis. We observed a sixty two year-old women who presented several medium-abundance haemoptysis. They were associated with a systematic alveolar-interstitial radiological picture of the ventral upper right lobe. A right upper lobectomy showed that an old bronchial foreign body (piece of bone) was responsible for the systematic intra-alveolar bleeding. Though most of the breathed foreign bodies are expressed into immediate symptoms, some of them remained undiagnosed and may be responsible for haemoptysis, infectious complications, atelectasis and for bronchiectasis. Their extraction through endoscopy or most often surgery is necessary for a proper recovery. In spite of histopathological differences between foreign bodies, broncholithiasis and lung tumor the diagnosis may be difficult clinically and on radiology.