Infant, Newborn ; Female ; Humans ; Amniotic Fluid ; Perinatal Death ; Pneumonia, Aspiration/etiology* ; Arteries

OBJECTIVES: To study the clinical and microbiological characteristics of children with drowning-associated aspiration pneumonia, so as to provide a reference for empirical selection of antibacterial agents. METHODS: A retrospective analysis was performed on the medical data of 185 children with drowning-associated aspiration pneumonia who were admitted to Children's Hospital of Chongqing Medical University from January 2010 to October 2020. According to the drowning environment, these children were divided into four groups: fecal group (n=44), freshwater group (n=69), swimming pool group (n=41), and contaminant water group (n=31). The clinical characteristics and pathogen detection results were reviewed and compared among the four groups. RESULTS: The 185 children had an age of 4 months to 17 years (median 34 months). Sputum cultures were performed on 157 children, and 103 were tested positive (65.6%), with 87 strains of Gram-negative bacteria (68.5%), 37 strains of Gram-positive bacteria (29.1%), and 3 strains of fungi (2.4%). Gram-negative bacteria were the main pathogen in the fecal group and the contaminant water group, accounting for 88.2% (30/34) and 78.3% (18/23), respectively. The freshwater group had a significantly higher detection rate of Gram-positive bacteria than the fecal group (P<0.008), and the swimming pool group had an equal detection rate of Gram-negative bacteria and Gram-positive bacteria. CONCLUSIONS For pulmonary bacterial infection in children with drowning in feces or contaminant water, antibiotics against Gram-negative bacteria may be applied empirically, while for children with drowning in a swimming pool or freshwater, broad-spectrum antibiotics may be used as initial treatment, and subsequently the application of antibiotics may be adjusted according to the results of the drug sensitivity test.
Anti-Bacterial Agents/therapeutic use* ; Child ; Drowning ; Gram-Negative Bacteria ; Humans ; Pneumonia, Aspiration/drug therapy* ; Retrospective Studies ; Water

Many hospitals have patients perform preparative fasting prior to contrast-enhanced computed tomography to prevent nausea, vomiting, and accompanying aspiration pneumonia. This policy has been regarded as reasonable because there are many side effects such as vomiting when ionic high-osmolar contrast media are used. Recent advancements in contrast media development, side effects such as nausea and vomiting have markedly decreased. However, fasting prior to the contrast-enhanced computed tomography examination is still customary. While debatable, it is not clear that fasting prior to the use of contrast media has a beneficial effect on the prevention of vomiting. On the contrary, excessive fasting can cause patient dissatisfaction, dehydration, and exhaustion. Therefore, before using contrast media, the duration of fasting should be determined based on consideration of the risks, benefits, and patient’s comfort. In particular, to prevent dehydration, limitation of liquid intake during fasting is not recommended.
Contrast Media ; Dehydration ; Fasting ; Humans ; Nausea ; Pneumonia, Aspiration ; Vomiting

Swallowing can be affected by a variety of systemic diseases. The etiology of dysphagia in the geriatric population is usually overlooked due mainly to a presumed diagnosis of presbyphagia or difficulty in revealing the direct cause. On the other hand, dysphagia can be a meaningful clinical sign of premalignant systemic disease. A 78-year-old man, without any prior medical or family history, was admitted with the chief complaint of dysphagia with recent aspiration pneumonia. Instrumental swallowing tests revealed a severe degree of dysphagia due to decreased laryngopharyngeal sensation and weakness of the pharyngeal constrictor muscles. Extensive workup, including electromyography and laboratory tests, revealed severe sensorimotor peripheral polyneuropathy related to monoclonal gammopathy. Monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS) is a premalignant precursor of multiple myeloma, which is characterized by the proliferation of monoclonal proteins. These conditions are often associated with peripheral polyneuropathy, ataxia, and sometimes even muscle weakness. Although dysphagia can occur in other systemic disorders, such as vasculitis or paraneoplastic syndrome-related malignancies, there are few reports of dysphagia related to MGUS. The patient was followed up for three years. The MGUS showed no further progression, but the patient showed no improvement, indicating a protracted clinical course and poor prognosis when dysphagia is related to MGUS.
Aged ; Ataxia ; Deglutition ; Deglutition Disorders ; Diagnosis ; Electromyography ; Hand ; Humans ; Monoclonal Gammopathy of Undetermined Significance ; Multiple Myeloma ; Muscle Weakness ; Muscles ; Paraproteinemias ; Pneumonia, Aspiration ; Polyneuropathies ; Prognosis ; Sensation ; Vasculitis

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the proportion of aspiration pneumonia cases among patients with community-acquired pneumonia in Korea. METHODS: This retrospective study included patients with community-acquired pneumonia who had been admitted to the emergency department of a university-affiliated tertiary hospital in Gyeonggi Province, Korea between January 1, 2016 and December 31, 2016. Among these patients, those with aspiration pneumonia were identified using ICD-10 codes (J69.*). Patients with recurrent pneumonia were excluded, as were those who were immunocompromised. The proportion of cases of aspiration pneumonia was calculated, and the characteristics and clinical outcomes of patients with aspiration pneumonia and non-aspiration pneumonia were compared. RESULTS: The proportion of aspiration pneumonia cases among patients with community-acquired pneumonia was 14.2%. Patients with aspiration pneumonia were significantly more likely to be older (p<0.001) and male (p<0.001), and to have a higher confusion, uremia, respiratory rate, blood pressure, and age ≥65 years (CURB-65) score (p<0.001) as compared to patients with non-aspiration pneumonia. They were also more likely to require admission to the intensive care unit (p<0.001) and a longer hospital stay (p<0.001). CONCLUSION: Aspiration pneumonia accounts for 14.2% of all cases of community-acquired pneumonia in Korea. These data may contribute to the establishment of healthcare strategies for managing aspiration pneumonia among Korean adults.
Adult ; Blood Pressure ; Community-Acquired Infections ; Delivery of Health Care ; Emergency Service, Hospital ; Gyeonggi-do ; Humans ; Intensive Care Units ; International Classification of Diseases ; Korea ; Length of Stay ; Male ; Pneumonia ; Pneumonia, Aspiration ; Respiratory Rate ; Retrospective Studies ; Tertiary Care Centers ; Uremia

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Evidence that general anesthesia (GA) reduces the operative time of esophageal endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) is currently insufficient. This study aims to evaluate the efficacy and safety of esophageal ESD under GA. METHODS: A total of 227 lesions from 198 consecutive patients with superficial esophageal neoplasms treated by ESD at 3 Japanese institutions between April 2011 and September 2017 were included in this retrospective study. For ESD, GA and deep sedation (DS) were used in 102 (51.5%, GA group) and 96 patients (48.5%, DS group), respectively. RESULTS: There were no statistically significant differences in age, sex, or comorbidities between the groups. In the GA group, the tumor size was larger (21 [3–77] mm vs. 14 [3–63] mm, p<0.001), luminal circumference was larger (≥2/3; 13.9% vs. 5.4%, p=0.042), procedure time was shorter (28 [5–202] min vs. 40 [8–249] min, p<0.001), and submucosal dissection speed was faster (25.2 [7.8–157.2] mm² /min vs. 16.2 [2.4–41.3] mm² /min, p<0.001). The rates of intraoperative perforation and aspiration pneumonia were lower in the GA group, but the difference did not achieve statistical significance (p=0.242 and p=0.242). CONCLUSIONS: GA shortens the procedure time of esophageal ESD.
Anesthesia ; Anesthesia, General ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Comorbidity ; Deep Sedation ; Esophageal Neoplasms ; Humans ; Operative Time ; Phenobarbital ; Pneumonia, Aspiration ; Retrospective Studies

Exogenous lipoid pneumonia is an uncommon medical condition resulting from aspiration or inhalation of oily material. Generally, lipoid pneumonia has nonspecific clinical and radiological presentations, and may be misdiagnosed as bacterial pneumonia or lung cancer. We describe an unusual case of exogenous lipoid pneumonia accompanied by peripheral blood and pulmonary eosinophilia. A 63-year-old man was admitted with progressively worsening exertional dyspnea and productive cough for 5 days. A chest radiograph showed abnormalities in the lower lobe of the right lung, and a diagnosis of community-acquired pneumonia was made; intravenous antibiotics were administered. However, dyspnea and hypoxia gradually worsened and peripheral blood eosinophilia developed. A bronchoscopy was performed and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid analysis showed markedly increased numbers of eosinophils (40%). Subsequently, a comprehensive review of history revealed that he fell asleep with camellia oil in his mouth for 2 weeks to relieve foreign body sensation of the throat. Sputum and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid cytology showed the presence of lipid-laden macrophages. He was diagnosed with lipoid pneumonia and acute eosinophilic pneumonia. Chest radiograph and symptom were rapidly improved after treatment with intravenous methylprednisolone.
Anoxia ; Anti-Bacterial Agents ; Bronchoalveolar Lavage Fluid ; Bronchoscopy ; Camellia ; Cough ; Diagnosis ; Dyspnea ; Eosinophilia ; Eosinophils* ; Foreign Bodies ; Humans ; Inhalation ; Lung ; Lung Neoplasms ; Macrophages ; Methylprednisolone ; Middle Aged ; Mouth ; Pharynx ; Pneumonia* ; Pneumonia, Bacterial ; Pneumonia, Lipid ; Pulmonary Eosinophilia* ; Radiography, Thoracic ; Respiratory Aspiration ; Sensation ; Sputum

OBJECTIVE: This study was conducted to identify the frequency of videofluoroscopic swallow study (VFSS) and characteristics of VFSS findings in the patients diagnosed with aspiration pneumonia. METHOD: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 2,885 patients who has been diagnosed with aspiration pneumonia either clinically or radiographically. Overall, 811 patients could not be examined because of medical problems. The rest of the subjects were divided into two groups according to the presence of neurologic deficit. The findings of VFSS were scored using the Penetration-Aspiration Scale (PAS) and Pharyngeal Residue Grade (PRG), and data were analyzed based on descriptive statistics, the χ² test, t-test, ANCOVA and logistic regression. RESULT: A total of 1,267 subjects (43.9%) underwent VFSS. Among patients who could be examined, 61.1% were tested. Only 26.7% of subjects without neurologic deficit underwent VFSS, while 56.5% of the subjects in the other group underwent the procedure. The PAS and PRG scores did not differ significantly between groups. About 32.7% of the findings showed silent aspiration (PAS 8), which difficult to detect by bedside screening tests. CONCLUSION: Subjects with neurologic deficit showed significantly higher test rates than the others. There were no significant differences in VFSS findings between groups. Dysphagia should be evaluated in patients with aspiration pneumonia using precise tools, such as VFSS and fiberoptic endoscopic evaluation of swallowing (FEES), regardless of presence of neurological deficit.
Deglutition ; Deglutition Disorders ; Humans ; Logistic Models ; Mass Screening ; Medical Records ; Methods ; Neurologic Manifestations ; Pneumonia, Aspiration ; Retrospective Studies

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the factors affecting long-term prognosis for dysphagia in tonsil cancer patients, after treatment. METHOD: This was a retrospective study of subjects who underwent a videofluoroscopic swallowing study (VFSS) following treatment for stage 3 or 4 tonsil cancer. Data including sex, age, cancer characteristics, and methods of cancer treatment were collected. To evaluate the swallowing-related outcome, we collected data including findings regarding the last VFSS, method of feeding, and history of aspiration pneumonia requiring in-patient care. We evaluated the correlation between these data and the characteristics of cancer and treatment methods. RESULT: Among 32 subjects included in this study, eight had aspiration or penetration confirmed by the last VFSS. There were no significant differences in swallowing-related factors according to the presence of aspiration or penetration in the last VFSS. Patients who underwent curative tonsillectomy retained more residues on the last VFSS than those who did not. CONCLUSION: Among subjects with tonsil cancer, history of curative tonsillectomy was correlated with more pharyngeal residue. However, other cancer- or treatment-related factors did not affect the outcome of swallowing.
Deglutition ; Deglutition Disorders ; Humans ; Methods ; Palatine Tonsil ; Pneumonia, Aspiration ; Prognosis ; Retrospective Studies ; Tonsillar Neoplasms ; Tonsillectomy

Caustic injury and spinal cord injury may induce pharyngeal and esophageal dysfunction, which frequently elicit dysphagia. Among the causes of dysphagia, these types of injury are related to anatomical and functional deterioration of the peripheral muscles and nerves. Various types of chemical materials cause upper aerodigestive tract burns, which induces stricture and dysphagia by scar formation. Endoscopic evaluation within 48 hours helps to predict the occurrence of stricture and dysphagia. The extent of injury or other additional complications should be assessed by plain X-ray and comupterized tomography (CT). The prevention of stricture, perforation, and dysphagia is a mainstay of treatment to reduce morbidity, and serial dilation with esophagogram and flap reconstruction should be considered in failure cases. Cervical spine injury itself causes mucosal tears or neuromuscular dysfunction, which can occur even during corrective surgery. Perforation should be evaluated by laryngoscopy, swallowing studies, plain X-ray, and CT. Both mechanical and functional obstruction that occur during the healing process can be managed by rehabilitative or surgical approaches. Dysphagia caused by chemical burns or cervical spine injury can provoke secondary complications such as aspiration pneumonia and malnutrition. Thus, adequate evaluation and management of anatomical and functional changes are required to prevent dysphagia and further complications, as well as to increase the quality of life of patients.
Burns ; Burns, Chemical ; Cicatrix ; Constriction, Pathologic ; Deglutition ; Deglutition Disorders ; Humans ; Laryngoscopy ; Malnutrition ; Muscles ; Pneumonia, Aspiration ; Quality of Life ; Spinal Cord Injuries ; Spine ; Tears