Abstract:Aspiration is one of the most common manifestation of dysphagia. The incidence of pneumonia and mortality was significantly higher in patients with aspiration. Silent aspiration (SA) describes aspirations without any obvious signs of swallowing difficulty, which can be accompanied with many diseases. The pneumonia symptoms and onset caused by SA is not typical, which can easily lead to the delay of diagnosis and treatment. Video fluoroscopic swallowing and fiberoptic endoscopic evaluation of swallowing are the most frequently used techniques to diagnose SA, while more widely available simple detection methods are lack. It needs to improve the detection methods and thereby better define the prevalence and prognostic significance. This article summarized the recent progress on the research of SA, including the prevalence, etiology, significance, methods of diagnosing, prevention and treatment measures.