Patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are susceptible to aspiration, probably due to discoordination between breathing and swallowing, cricopharyngeal muscle dysfunction, and changes in lung volume [1,2]. TERADA et al.[3] found a significantly higher prevalence of an abnormal swallowing reflex in patients with COPD than in healthy controls. SHAKER et al. [4] found that patients with acute exacerbation of COPD (AECOPD) have a higher risk of aspiration. In this cross-sectional study, using the technetium-99m-sulfur colloid ( 99m Tc-SC) salivary scintigraphy method that is believed to be more sensitive than techniques using in previous studies, the prevalence and risk factors of silent aspiration in hospitalised AECOPD patients was studied.In this study, hospitalised AECOPD patients were recruited from the Guangzhou Institute of Respiratory Disease, First Affiliated

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Background: The aim of this prospective study was to assess the utility of radionuclide salivagram for detecting salivary aspiration in AECOPD patients and to evaluate the adding value of SPECT/CT to planar Conclusions: Radionuclide salivagram is an objective method for detecting salivary aspiration in AECOPD patients. Moreover, SPECT/CT can identify more precise location of salivary aspiration and suggest a possible role for saliva in the pathophysiology of aspiration pneumonia.

Purpose To use radionuclide imaging to investigate silent aspiration among patients recovering from an acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (AECOPD). We also evaluated the effects of exercise‐induced dyspnoea on silent aspiration in COPD patients. Patients and methods Recovering AECOPD patients admitted to the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University between December 2013 and December 2015 were selected for the radionuclide aspiration test along with healthy volunteers of similar age. Aspiration‐negative AECOPD patients were randomized into two subgroups. Patients in group A performed symptom‐limited incremental cycle exercise test. Patients in group B were resting on the exercise bicycles. Aspiration‐negative healthy volunteers performed symptom‐limited incremental cycle exercise test (group C). Three groups performed a radionuclide aspiration test 30 min after exercise. Results The silent aspiration rates among recovering AECOPD patients and healthy volunteers were 44.19% (57/129) and 0 (0/18) (P = 0.00). The aspiration rates in groups A and B were 33.33% (10/30) and 23.33% (7/30), (P = 0.39) and groups A and C were 33.33% (10/30) and 0% (0/12), (P = 0.04). Conclusion Recovering AECOPD patients had significantly higher silent aspiration rates than healthy volunteers of similar age. The evidence is not strong enough to support the patients with exercise‐induced dyspnoea‐increased aspiration rate.