Respiratory problems contribute significantly to the overall morbidity and mortality in neurologically impaired children.1-3 Plioplys3 studied severely disabled children living in institution in United States and found that 77% of deaths were result of pneumonia. Aspiration, either from secretions/food in the pharynx or from reflux of gastric contents, is a very common phenomenon in this group ...

Chronic, long-term respiratory morbidity (CRM) is common in patients with a history of repaired congenital esophageal atresia, typically associated with tracheoesophageal fistula (EA/TEF). EA/TEF patients are at high risk of having aspiration, and retrospective studies have associated CRM with both recurrent aspiration and atopy. However, studies evaluating the association between CRM in this p...

Respiratory distress is a common symptom in the newborn. Surfactant deficiency in the preterm infant and meconium aspiration and transient tachypnea in the term newborn are among the most common causes of respiratory distress, but primary airway abnormalities can also present with respiratory distress in the newborn. Delay in diagnosis of airway abnormality can be life threatening. Radiologists...

Muscular dystrophy is a group of inherited myopathies characterised by progressive skeletal muscle wasting, including of the respiratory muscles. Respiratory failure, i.e. when the respiratory system fails in its gas exchange functions, is a common feature in muscular dystrophy, being the main cause of death, and it is a consequence of lung failure, pump failure or a combination of the two. The...

Introduction Dysphagia is a risk factor for aspiration pneumonia and acute respiratory failure in acute stroke patients. Dysphagia lusoria is caused by compression on the esophagus from artery lusoria, when the aberrant right subclavian artery arises from the descending aortic arch. We present a rare case report of pre-stroke undiagnosed dysphagia lusoria as a cause of aspiration pneumonia with...

Background: International guidelines recommend two hours of clear fluid fasting prior to general anesthesia. The pediatric anesthesia unit of Uppsala University Hospital implements a more liberal fasting regime for more than a decade; thus children scheduled for elective procedures are allowed to drink clear fluids until called to theatre. We hypothesized that this practice would not increase t...

Bulbar dysfunction resulting from corticobulbar pathway or brainstem neuron degeneration is one of the most important clinical problems encountered in motor neuron disease (MND) and contributes to various respiratory complications which are major causes of morbidity and mortality. Chronic malnutrition as a consequence of bulbar muscle weakness may have a considerable bearing on respiratory musc...

Childhood pneumonia is usually treated without determining its etiology. The causative organism can be isolated from specimens of blood, empyema fluid, or lung aspirate, but this is rarely done. The potential of transthoracic needle aspiration for identification of causative agents was tested with use of modern microbiological methods. Aspiration was performed for 34 children who had radiologic...

Background: To assess the types of tracheobronchial foreign bodies, the means by which they gain access and the measures by which accidental aspiration can be prevented. Methods: Bronchoscopy was performed in 39 patients who presented with a suspicion of foreign body aspiration during a three-year period (Jan 2002 – Dec 2004) in the Department of ENT, Holy Family Hospital, Rawalpindi. Results: ...