Surgeons at Charity Hospital have removed a two-and-a-half inch knife blade from a man's lung where it had remained imbedded for 38 years.
William Citizen, 55, Negro, of Church Point, received the knife wound "from my best friend, although I never did find out why."
Prompt medical attention saved his life but the blade of the knife broke off in his chest.
AS THE BLADE WAS NOT CAUSING any particular pain or internal bleeding at the time, doctors felt it best not to tamper with it.
Several weeks ago Citizen began coughing up blood and went to Charity for treatment.
Doctors there gave him two special tests to determine the cause of the internal bleeding.
Bronchiograms, special X-ray procedures using contrast media to outline the windpipe, and bronchoscopic tests, which involve looking down the windpipe using a tube for direct vision, showed the old blade to be the villain.
IT HAD BEGUN TO MOVE, EVER SO SLIGHTLY, and
was causing the bleeding. There was a possibility doctors thought, that it might cause serious complications later.
The physicians could see the blade, thanks to their tests, located in the right upper lobe of the right lung and they prescribed surgery.
The operation was tricky, as is any lung surgery, but completely successful. The patient is doing well.
Asked if he felt any lighter since the removal of the 38-year-old blade, Citizen smiled: "I feel just right." PHOTO: DR. RICHARD L. CARTER, first year thoracic medicine resident at Louisiana State University Medical School, checks an X-ray showing location of a knife blade he removed from the lung of Charity Hospital patient William Citizen.
