The excitatory amino acid glutamate plays an important role in the development of neuronal sensitization and the ionotropic N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) is one of the major receptors involved. The objective of this study was to use a cat model of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) to investigate the expression of the NR1 and NR2A subunits of NMDAR in the vagal and spinal afferent f...

Barrett's esophagus is a condition in which the normal squamous lining of the esophagus has been replaced by columnar epithelium containing intestinal metaplasia induced by recurrent mucosal injury related to gastroesophageal reflux disease. Barrett's esophagus is a premalignant condition that can progress through a dysplasia-carcinoma sequence to esophageal adenocarcinoma. Multiple endoscopic ...

Intramural hematoma of the esophagus is the least common form of traumatic injuries of the esophagus. It can be spontaneous or secondary. The classic triad of presentation includes chest pain, dysphagia and hemetemesis. Most of cases are diagnosed by endoscopy, with various other modalities like barium swallow, CT scan or endo-ultrasound acting as complimentary investigative tools. The manageme...

Barrett's esophagus consists of the replacement of normal squamous epithelium by a specialised columnar lined epithelium referred to as intestinal metaplasia in the esophagus. It represents a premalignant lesion. The prevalence of Barrett's esophagus is around 1.6%. Esophageal adenocarcinoma results from the development of dysplasia progressing from low to high grade dysplasia and finally adeno...

Eosinophilic esophagitis (EE) is an increasingly recognized primary clinicopathologic disorder of the esophagus which lacks a specific etiology. Most reports on EE have been limited to the esophagus mucosa. We present a 56-year-old man with the mural form of EE and superficial squamous cell carcinoma in the esophagus. The eosinophils diffusely invaded the full-thickness of the esophagus, mainly...

BACKGROUND Transhiatal esophagectomy for esophageal cancer implies blind manipulation of the intrathoracic esophagus. We report a secure hemostatic method with gauze packing in transhiatal esophagectomy. METHODS The gauze-packing technique is utilized for hemostasis just after removal of the thoracic esophagus during transhiatal esophagectomy. After confirming cancer-free margins, the abdomin...

PURPOSE To characterize the effect of the relative motion of esophagus and tumor on radiation doses to the esophagus in patients treated with stereotactic body radiation therapy for central lung tumors. METHODS AND MATERIALS Fifty fractions of stereotactic body radiation therapy in 10 patients with lung tumors within 2.5 cm of the esophagus were reviewed. The esophagus was delineated on each ...

Ring doves vocalize with their beaks and nostrils closed, exhaling into inflatable chambers in the head and neck region. The source sound produced at the syrinx contains a fundamental frequency with prominent second and third harmonic overtones, but these harmonics are filtered out of the emitted signal. We show by cineradiography that the upper esophagus, oral and nasal cavities collect the ex...

The human esophagus is composed of striated muscle proximally and of smooth muscle distally with a transition zone between the two. Striated muscle contracts much faster than smooth muscle. The change in pressure over time (dP/d t) of the contraction amplitude should therefore be higher in proximal than in distal esophagus, reflecting the presence of striated muscle proximally. There were 34 no...

PURPOSE Esophageal adenocarcinoma is a highly aggressive malignancy that frequently develops from Barrett's esophagus, a premalignant pathologic change occurring in the lower end of the esophagus. Identifying Barrett's esophagus patients at high risk of malignant transformation is essential to the prevention of esophageal adenocarcinoma. Although microRNA (miRNA) expression signatures have been...