Abstract
The article presents a case of recurrent aspiration pneumonia in a 65-year-old woman who was hospitalized with complaints of intermittent fever, coughing with copious mucopurulent sputum, increasing shortness of breath, and a weight loss of 15 kg over the previous year. These complaints were recurrent and had been present for 2 years, leading to multiple hospitalizations with a diagnosis of bilateral pneumonia and courses of antibiotic therapy with short-term positive effects. A chest computed tomography scan revealed progressive changes in the lung tissue. Given the patient's previous history of laryngeal cancer (treated with surgery, radiation therapy, and chemotherapy), it was suggested that she may have a metastatic process in her lungs. However, a pathomorphological examination did not reveal any evidence of a recurrence of cancer. The examination of the patient did not reveal signs of mycobacterial and fungal infection. When conducting a radiocontrast examination of the pharynx and esophagus, oropharyngeal dysphagia was revealed, caused by dysfunction of the epiglottis and became the cause of repeated aspiration, which served as the cause of recurrent aspiration pneumonia.
Keywords: aspiration pneumonia, dysphagia, epiglottis dysfunction, laryngeal cancer, differential diagnosis.
For citation:Karnaushkina M.A., Tyurin I.E., Romanovskikh A.G., Smirnov I.P., Pigareva Yu.A., Voroshilov A.A., Klyachkina I.L. Case of recurrent aspiration pneumonia. Clinical review for general practice. 2026; 7 (1): 7–11 (In Russ.). DOI: 10.47407/kr2026.7.1.00743
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