RATIONALE Most of the esophageal diverticulums are congenital traction instead of in childhood. In most conditions, esophageal diverticulums are free of any symptoms. As one of the rare entity, esophageal diverticulum can also result in bronchoesophageal fistula. PATIENT CONCERNS A 10-year-old girl was admitted due to a 2-month history of cough and choking after drinking, and fever for 3 days...

A 73-year-old man presented with melena. After a thorough workup including esophageal endoscopy, computed tomography scans, and esophagography, the diagnosis of secondary aortoesophageal fistula was made. Two years previously, he had undergone endovascular stent-graft repair for the dissection of his descending thoracic aorta. Because of the generally poor condition of the patient and the high ...

BACKGROUND/PURPOSE Endoscopic ultrasonography (EUS) is considered a potentially useful tool to investigate structural abnormalities of the esophagus in pediatric patients, as in adults. The aim of this study was to evaluate the usefulness of EUS for the diagnosis of congenital esophageal stenosis. METHODS High-frequency catheter probe EUS was performed under general anesthesia in 2 patients w...

In the present report, we describe a case of long-term follow-up esophageal stricture occurring in a patient with nasogastric tube use. A 63-year-old man who had experienced dislocation of the 6th and 7th cervical vertebrae as the result of an external injury received treatment at another hospital and was admitted to the rehabilitation department of our hospital. After he exhibited normal swall...

H-type tracheoesophageal fistula (TEF) is extremely rare in infants and children, and clinical manifestations of this condition are diverse based on its severity. Some cases of congenital TEF diagnosed in adulthood have been reported, which indicate the difficulty of early diagnosis of this disease. Gastroesophageal reflux (GER) may induce chronic aspiration, pulmonary aspiration, apparent life...

BACKGROUND/AIMS Primary repair of a large hiatal hernia is associated with a published recurrence rate of up to 10%; anecdotal rates even higher than this have been reported to the authors. The use of prosthetic material in the repair of other abdominal wall defects has often produced better results than primary repair. We wanted to compare laparoscopic primary repair of large hiatus hernias wi...

Staging should include clinical examination, blood counts, liver and renal function tests, endoscopy (including upperaerodigestive tract endoscopy in case of squamous cell carcinoma), and a CT scan of chest and abdomen. In candidates for surgical resection, esophagogram and endoscopic ultrasound have to be added to evaluate the T (and N) stage of the tumor and to assist in the planning of the s...

Zenker's diverticulum is a form of esophageal and pharyngeal obstruction located at the Killian-Laimer triangle. It is relatively common in elderly man (seventh or eighth decade of life), and its pathophysiology is not completely understood, albeit theories regarding dysfunction of the upper esophageal sphincter were reported. The main symptoms are dysphagia and odynophagia, but it can complica...

A case of incomplete duplication of the esophagus diagnosed in a 20-month-old girl with an esophageal perforation is presented. X-ray films of the chest showed pneumomediastinum and subcutaneous emphysema. A water soluble contrast esophagogram revealed a contrast leakage from the cervical esophagus to the thoracic inlet. The endoscopic findings are described. Complete resection of the esophagea...

BACKGROUND Botulinum toxin (BT) injection reduces lower esophageal sphincter pressure and alleviates symptoms in idiopathic achalasia (IA). Ethanolamine oleate (EO) has also been introduced for the treatment of IA. We compared the long-term efficacy of BT and EO injections in the treatment of IA. METHODS A total of 189 IA patients were evaluated prospectively, of whom 21 were unwilling to und...