Barium sulphate aspiration pneumonia in a cat with megaesophagus and dextroposition of the aortic arch: case report

Abstract

A six-month-old female cat suffered aspiration of an abundant amount of barium sulfate during a radiographic procedure for the diagnosis of megaesophagus. Latero-lateral contrast radiography revealed severe dilation of the thoracic esophagus cranial to the base of the heart. Persistence of the right aortic arch was suspected and later confirmed during corrective surgery. Accumulation of barium sulfate, used as a contrast agent, was clearly observed in the lumen of the bronchi, bronchioles, and alveoli in the radiographic image. Days after the surgery, the animal developed severe respiratory distress, which resulted in death. Cytology results and histology analysis using polarized light demonstrated that the lumen of bronchi, bronchioles, and alveoli exhibited evident histiocytic infiltration with cytoplasm filled by abundant amorphous refractive granular material consistent with barium sulfate. In this report, we describe the anatomical, cytological, histopathological (using polarized light), and x-ray findings of a case of barium sulfate aspiration pneumonia in a cat resulting from the use of this contrast medium for the diagnosis of megaesophagus secondary to persistent right aortic arch.

Detection of Lung Affections of Stray Cats in Mosul City, Iraq.

“…63.15% of the examined lungs may be affected by aerosol rout that cat inhaled foreign bodies into its lungs like a tiny piece of plastic or a seed pod. Also vomitting and regurgitation could irritate the lung tissue and cause pneumonia (Thawley and Drobatz, 2015;Barrera-Zarate et al, 2018). The vomited or external materials may contain pathogens such as Chlamydophila (psittaci) felis, Bordetella bronchiseptica, Pasteurella spp., Moraxella spp., (Foster et al, 2004) and feline herpesvirus-1 (McGregor et al, 2016), which cause bronchopneumonia characterized by neutrophilic bronchiolitis, infiltration of neutrophils and mononuclear cells, and thickening of the alveolar walls by edema and hyperplasia (Lopez and Martinson, 2017).…”

“…Also, it can be a result of a neuromuscular disorder causing difficulty in the swallowing, and paralysis of esophagus. Bacteria present in the inhaled foreign matter may also bring about infection (Giannelli et al, 2017;Barrera-Zarate et al, 2018). Sometimes, a secondary bacterial infection follows the viral or fungal infection which causes damage to the lung, thus pneumonia can be caused by more than single organism.…”