Meconium aspiration pneumonia and otitis media in two goat kids

Abstract

We report meconium aspiration in 2 sibling goat kids, and characterize the expected lesions of aspiration pneumonia in conjunction with the rare lesion of otitis media. Grossly, the lungs were multifocally consolidated, and there was yellow-green exudate within the middle ear. Histologically, the lung was characterized by pyogranulomatous pneumonia and foreign-body reaction around aspirated debris. Within the lumen of the middle ear, aspirated squamous cells, keratin, meconium debris, and neutrophils, without evidence of bacteria, were accompanied by a subepithelial accumulation of lymphocytes, plasma cells, and fewer macrophages. This is an especially rare phenomenon, which is thought to result from transport of meconium from the oropharynx through the auditory tube (Eustachian tube) to the middle ear.