Two cases of aspiration of calcium tablets

Two clinical cases of aspiration are reported in elderly ladies with differing presentations following inhalation of the same brand of calcium tablet. One of the patients distinctly recalled the choking episode, whereas the other failed to do so making the diagnosis of aspiration difficult. One of the aspirated tablets was successfully retrieved during rigid bronchoscopy after the patient reported several months of cough requiring multiple courses of antibiotics. The other aspirated tablet was coughed up by the patient after the successful treatment of a pneumonia complicated by a parapneumonic effusion.