Whenever a newborn infant presents with excessive salivation and failure to pass nasogastric tube, one of the 5 major types of esophageal atresia is suspected. We report a rare case where a newborn infant presented with features of esophageal atresia due to membranous diaphragm.

A 52-year-old man presented with progressive dysphagia and body weight loss for one month. Esophageal cancer with squamous cell carcinoma was diagnosed via esophagoscopy. Then he received subtotal esophagectomy with reconstruction. After the operation, follow-up chest radiograph showed two air-fluid level lesions over both lungs (Picture 1A, B). We performed thoracocentesis and tube drainage to...

Salivary bypass tubes have been used with great success in preventing neck wound contamination from saliva and decreasing the risk of pharyngoesophageal stenosis. However, complications from esophageal tubes and risk factors for these complications should not be overlooked. Complications can be fatal, as demonstrated in this case of esophageal-subclavian artery fistulization. Retroesophageal su...

Acquired tracheoesophageal fistula through esophageal diverticulum is infrequent. We report tracheoesophageal fistula through esophageal diverticulum in a 55-year-old male who had a prolonged tracheostomy tube during 6 months, and a NG tube during 18 months. He suffered from recurrent pneumonia. He complained of a cough associated with eating, and production of sputum mixed with food. To help e...

BACKGROUND Complete esophageal stenosis can occur after external beam radiation therapy for malignancies. Treatment for this complication has traditionally involved surgery. METHODS A new technique to reestablish luminal patency is described. This minimally invasive technique involves retrograde endoscopy by means of gastrostomy tube tract and puncture of the stenotic occlusion followed by st...

Early diagnosis followed by primary repair is the best treatment for spontaneous esophageal perforation. However, the appropriate management of esophageal leakage after surgical repair is still controversial. Recently, the successful adaptation of vacuum-assisted closure therapy, which is well established for the treatment of chronic surface wounds, has been demonstrated for esophageal perforat...

Severely stenosed radiation-induced benign strictures around the level of cricopharyngeus post-radical chemoradiation for head and neck or upper esophageal cancers pose significant management problems. We report our technique of bidirectional assessment and dilatation of pharyngoesophageal strictures in patients with an in situ percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) tube. The upper gastroint...

Surgical treatment of esophageal cancer is substantially invasive and often entails some postoperative complications. Perioperative management for patients with liver cirrhosis involves great difficulties. Recently, we conducted an esophagectomy for the treatment of superficial esophageal cancer in a 52-year-old male patient with liver cirrhosis and esophageal varices, with gratifying results. ...

BACKGROUND Many patients with cancer or other systemic illnesses can experience malnutrition. One way to mitigate malnutrition is by insertion of a percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy feeding tube (PEG tube). The goal of this retrospective matched cohort study is to evaluate if PEG tube placement improved nutritional status and overall survival (OS) in advanced gastroesophageal (GE) cancer pati...