Pumpkin seed shell found in Egyptian child’s trachea after 2 months of wrong allergy diagnosis

CAIRO – 5 May 2021: A 10-month old child, who was experiencing respiratory issues, was diagnosed as having allergy, until it was found that he has swallowed a pumpkin seed shell by mistake.

Two months ago, the child started a treatment from allergy as the doctors mistakenly diagnosed; however, his case did not improve.

The child was admitted into the hospital, where he underwent x-ray that showed a suspicion of a strange object in the trachea.

An endoscopy was done to the child to confirm the presence of a pumpkin seed shell in the trachea, after he picked it up from the floor away from his parent’s supervision.

The medical team at the department of cardiothoracic surgery at Benha University Hospital succeeded in extracting the shell of the seed from the trachea.

Doctors appealed to parents to keep an eye on their children and supervise them to guarantee their safety from day one of their birth until they age 5 years old, to avoid their children be exposed to such issues.