of distraction. For example, one swallower lacerated his pharynx when trying to swallow a curved sabre, a second lacerated his oesophagus and developed pleurisy after being distracted by a misbehaving macaw on his shoulder, and a belly dancer suffered a major haemorrhage when a bystander pushed dollar bills into her belt causing three blades in her oesophagus to scissor. Of the 12 cases of prob...

In the present work we describe a 2-year-old boy whose battery ingestion was overlooked, and who had the battery endoscopically removed from the upper part of his oesophagus after several months. This is the only described case of such a long impaction of a lithium battery in the oesophagus, without development of severe complications. We stress the necessity to take into account ingestion of a...

A study of the function of the lower end of the oesophagus in the cat confirms that it behaves as a true physiological sphincter, even though histological evidence for such a structure is absent. Sphincteric action is a function of the circular muscle fibres in the lowest 2 cm. of the oesophagus. Reflex changes in tone of the sphincter are mediated through the autonomic nervous system. The effe...

Gastro-intestinal stromal tumours are rarely found in the oesophagus and it is uncommon for these tumours to present with rupture. In this paper, we report a case where the tumour ruptured through the distal oesophagus. As a result, the patient underwent surgical tumour dissection. A histopathological examination of the tumour mass confirmed that it was a gastro-intestinal stromal tumour. In th...

Leverment, J. N. and Mearns Milne, D. (1974). Thorax, 29, 228-231. Palliative intubation for malignant strictures of the oesophagus. Over a 16-year period the Mousseau-Barbin tube was used for palliation in 50 patients suffering from malignant stricture of the oesophagus. In only two cases was the Souttar tube used. Thirty-seven cases were intubated as a primary method of treatment-21 cases wit...

*Assistant Professor, **Professor, Department of Medicine, KPC Medical College, 1F Raja S.C. Mullick Road, Jadavpur, Kolkata – 700032, West Bengal Received: 19.11.2012; Accepted; 12.12.2012 A 42 year old woman complained of fullness of abdomen and flatulence for last two years. There was no history of vomiting, heartburn, dysphagia, pain in abdomen, diarrhoea or constipation. Clinical examinati...

Achalasia is a rare disorder characterised by obstruction of the distal oesophagus and subsequent dilation of the proximal oesophagus. Patients generally complain of gastrointestinal symptoms; however, pulmonary symptoms and complications may also occur. A 35-year-old woman was brought to our emergency service complaining of sudden-onset dyspnea that started 15 minutes earlier during dinner. Sh...

Most epithelial cancers occur on the background of chronic exposure to damaging agents which is reflected in the long lag phase from development of a pre-invasive lesion to the development of a carcinoma. Luminal refluxate has long been recognized to be associated with Barrett's oesophagus, although causal mechanisms have not been clearly defined. Recently, obesity and dietary nitric oxide have...

Oesophageal cancer affects more than 450000 people worldwide and despite continued medical advancements the incidence of oesophageal cancer is increasing. Oesophageal cancer has a 5 year survival of 15%-25% and now globally attempts are made to more aggressively diagnose and treat Barrett's oesophagus the known precursor to invasive disease. Currently diagnosis the of Barrett's oesophagus is pr...

IT was in 1849 that Rokitanski noticed the relative frequency with which gastric and oesophageal lesions were found in patients who had died of intracranial disease. Cushing, in 1932, described eleven cases of alimentary tract lesions occurring in association with intracranial disease; two of them had rupture of the oesophagus. Fincher and Swanson (1949) described three cases of neurogenic rupt...