ACUTE FOREIGN BODY ASPIRATION COMPLICATED BY CARDIORESPIRATORY ARREST IN AN INFANT: A CASE REPORT

Background: Foreign body aspiration is a preventable but potentially fatal pediatric emergency, particularly in children younger than three years. Food foreign bodies, including round fruits such as grapes, may cause sudden airway obstruction, acute asphyxia, and cardiorespiratory arrest. Case presentation: We report the fatal case of a 1-year-8-month-old male infant admitted after aspiration of red grapes. The initial presentation included penetration syndrome, cyanosis, loss of consciousness, vomiting, severe respiratory distress, and hypoxemia. Initial arterial blood gas analysis showed acute respiratory failure with pH 7.306, PaCO2 52.5 mmHg, PaO2 63 mmHg on room air, oxygen saturation 89%, and lactate 1.29 mmol/L. Rigid bronchoscopy performed under general anesthesia did not identify a visible macroscopic foreign body, suggesting possible distal migration, fragmentation, or partial expulsion during initial airway clearance. The subsequent pediatric intensive care unit course was complicated by cardiorespiratory arrest requiring cardiopulmonary resuscitation, prolonged mechanical ventilation, severe bilateral infectious pneumonia with multidrug resistant organisms, suspected disseminated intravascular coagulation, diffuse ecchymotic and petechial skin lesions, post-anoxic brain injury with multiple cerebral microbleeds on MRI, multi-organ failure, and death after 83 days of hospitalization.