Aspiration pneumonia (Image sourced from Bristol Biomed Image Archive with permission) - Response of the lungs to aspirated foreign material will depend on the nature of the material (e.g. food), the bacterial load and the distribution of the material within the lungs
- Mild bronchopneumonia can develop into a severe necrotising pneumonia and in very severe cases can progress to gangrenous pneumonia (below)
- In Cattle
- Associated with poor husbandry
- Regurgitated ruminal content
- Cranio-ventral distribution
- Respiratory insufficiency secondary to congenital cardiac disease
- In Horses
- Most commonly in right ventral lung lobe (most rostral secondary bronchus leads to right accessory lobe)
- Risk factors:
- Oesophageal obstruction
- Spontaneous reflux (GI obstruction, equine grass sickness)
- Dysphagia
- Iatrogenic
- Nasogastric tube in the wrong place
- In Dogs
