Lung involvement in chronic occult aspiration

Abstract

Chronic occult aspiration is the chronic aspiration of small volumes of oral and gastric contents into the lung. This is also termed as chronic microaspiration. It can lead to symptoms of gastroesophageal reflux disease and later lung involvement. This process is less familiar than the acute aspiration syndromes. Here, we present the case of an elderly male patient having diffuse esophageal spasm manifesting as recurrent chest pain and interstitial lung disease.

Keywords

• chronic occult aspiration
• corkscrew esophagus
• diffuse esophageal spasm
• esophageal dysmotility
• gastroesophageal reflux disease
• interstitial lung disease