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Pneumonia, Aspiration

  • Living reference work entry
  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Pathology

Part of the book series: Encyclopedia of Pathology ((EP))

Synonyms

Various types of aspiration pneumonia have been identified and are often subcategorized:

  • Meconium aspiration

  • Chemical pneumonitis aspirations of gastric contents (sometimes referred to as Mendelson syndrome)

  • Exogenous lipoid pneumonia (resulting from aspiration of lipid materials like milk or mineral oil)

Definition

Aspiration of contents into the lower airways, below the level of the true vocal cords, can result in an acute exudative process followed by the development of necrotizing pneumonia with abscess formation. Aspirated contents can include (but are not limited to) oropharyngeal or gastric material, bacteria, barium solutions, charcoal, foreign body material, meconium, or lipid materials (milk or mineral oil). Large airways can become obstructed when larger foreign bodies are aspirated.

Clinical Features

Incidence

The incidence is dependent on comorbid conditions and the age of the patient. Most patients have one or multiple predisposing conditions that alter the...

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References and Further Reading

  • Barrios, R. (2004). Lipoid pneumonia. In P. T. Cagle (Ed.), Color atlas and text of pulmonary pathology. Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.

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  • Haque, A. (2004). Aspiration pneumonia. In P. T. Cagle (Ed.), Color atlas and text of pulmonary pathology. Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.

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  • Lanspa, M. J., Jones, B. E., Brown, S. M., & Dean, N. C. (2013). Mortality, morbidity, and disease severity of patients with aspiration pneumonia. Journal of Hospital Medicine, 8(2), 83–90.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Marchevsky, A. M. (2016). Alveolar infiltrates. In P. T. Cagle & T. C. Allen (Eds.), Lung and pleural pathology. New York: McGraw-Hill Education.

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  • Marik, P. E. (2001). Aspiration pneumonitis and aspiration pneumonia. The New England Journal of Medicine, 344(9), 665–671.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pathology and Genomic Medicine, Houston Methodist Hospital, 6565 Fannin, M227, Houston, TX, 77030, USA

    Ross A. Miller & Tara N. Miller

Authors
  1. Ross A. Miller
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  2. Tara N. Miller
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ross A. Miller .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. NIJMEGEN, The Netherlands

    J.H.J.M. van Krieken

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© 2016 Springer International Publishing AG

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Miller, R.A., Miller, T.N. (2016). Pneumonia, Aspiration. In: van Krieken, J. (eds) Encyclopedia of Pathology. Encyclopedia of Pathology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28845-1_4415-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28845-1_4415-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-28845-1

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