Abstract

Aspiration is defined as the misdirection of oropharyngeal or gastric contents into the larynx and lower respiratory tract. Aspiration pneumonia develops after the aspiration of colonized oropharyngeal contents. We aimed to evaluate the epidemiological, clinical and laboratory findings of the patients with aspiration pneumonia who hospitalized in our department between 1998-2003 years. In this duration 7 patients (2.96%) were obtained within 236 patients with pneumonia. Six of 7 patients were older than 70 (mean age, 74.28; range, 46 to 90 years). Five of 7 patients’ aspiration pneumonia happened at home and considered as community-acquired pneumonia (CAP). COPD, heart disease, malignancy, malnutrition and diabetes mellitus have been implicated as risk factors leading to CAP in the elderly. However, the increased incidence of pneumonia with aging may be a consequence of impairment of swallowing and the cough reflex with senescence. Orofaryngeal aspiration is an important etiologic factor leading to pneumonia in the elderly. In present article with aid of our patients’ findings we investigated the risk factors of aspiration pneumonia.