A 73-year-old woman with a two-year history of recurrent episodes of respiratory distress is described. The finding of an elevated triglyceride value of 23.4 mmol/L (2072 mg/dL) and a normal cholesterol value in her sputum led to the correct diagnosis of chyloptysis after lymphangiography was performed. It is thought that congenital incompetence of the lymphatic valves was the cause of chyloptysis.