A 50-year-old woman with chagasic esophageal achalasia and megacolon presented with nonproductive cough, chest pain and dyspnea. A chest X-ray showed bilateral opacity suggestive of lobar pneumonia. Open lung biopsy revealed lipoid pneumonia resulting from aspiration of mineral oil from a mineral oil-based laxative that the patient had been taking regularly for the last three years. The authors discuss concomitance of chagasic megacolon and esophageal achalasia with lipoid pneumonia and make recommendations regarding the use of mineral oil-based products by these patients.

Keywords: Pneumonia, aspirtion/etiology. Pneumonia, lipid/etiology. Esophageal achalasia/pathology. Chagas disease/complications.