Aspiration Pneumonia

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