In this report, a full account of an extremely rare case on esophageal intramural dissection (EID) is presented. A 56-year-old female patient, misdiagnosed as esophageal mediastinal fistula under endoscopic view, was diagnosed correctly as EID with contained esophageal perforation in the operation and cured by thoracic esophagectomy.
Esophageal Diseases ; diagnosis ; surgery ; Esophageal Perforation ; diagnosis ; surgery ; Esophagectomy ; Female ; Humans ; Middle Aged

OBJECTIVE: To summarize the diagnostic and therapeutic experience of primary cricopharyngeal achalasia and introduce new operandi modus. METHOD: Report the two cases we treated in 2008 and integrate published literature, and approach its diagnostic and therapeutic experience and make use of new operandi modus. RESULT: The diagnosis of primary cricopharyngeal achalasia is difficult, and we must apply exclusive diagnosis according to the examinations of fibrolaryngoscopy, esophagoscopy and barium meal et al. CONCLUSION Surgical treatment is the best option. Partial resection of cricopharyngeal muscle and upper esophageal ring-shaped muscle is superior to simple cricopharyngeal myotomy.
Aged ; Esophageal Achalasia ; diagnosis ; surgery ; Female ; Humans ; Middle Aged ; Pharyngeal Diseases ; diagnosis ; surgery ; Pharyngeal Muscles ; physiopathology

Intramural esophageal dissection is a rare but clinically important condition in the field of gastroenterology. Classically, intramural esophageal dissection rarely occurs in patients who are anticoagulated or have poor medical condition, and its clinical presentation may include chest pain, dysphagia and hematemesis. Herein, we present a case of intramural esophageal dissection in an alcoholic hepatitis patient that was diagnosed by endoscopy and successfully treated with conservative management.
Deglutition Disorders/diagnosis ; Enteral Nutrition ; Esophageal Diseases/*diagnosis/surgery ; Esophagoscopy ; Hepatitis, Alcoholic/*pathology ; Humans ; Intubation, Gastrointestinal ; Male ; Middle Aged

Candidiasis ; diagnosis ; Cervical Vertebrae ; surgery ; Esophageal Diseases ; diagnosis ; microbiology ; Esophagus ; microbiology ; Humans ; Postoperative Complications ; microbiology ; Spinal Fusion ; adverse effects

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Spontaneous esophageal rupture is a life-threatening injury because of delay in diagnosis and rapid progression to septic condition. But acceptable standard treatment strategy has not been established yet. This may be due to its low incidence and lack of published literature. In this study, we evaluated the proper treatment strategy as to decide when and how to manage spontaneous esophageal rupture by analyzing our experiences. METHODS: Eleven patients who were diagnosed as spontaneous esophageal perforation in Dongsan Medical Center from 1993 to 2003 were analyzed. Patients were divided into survival and death group. Clinical manifestations, rupture site and size, treatment methods and complications were compared. RESULTS: All patients were male and alcoholics. Six patients had survived and five patients died. Age, sites and sizes of ruptures, operation methods were not different in both groups. Before operation, septic condition was present in all patients of death group and more common than survival group (p=0.015). Survival group showed shorter time interval from rupture to initial treatment (p=0.021) and to operation (p=0.019). CONCLUSIONS: Early diagnosis and initial aggressive treatments such as nothing per oral, pleural and mediastinal drainage are important factor for better prognosis. If possible, early operation such as primary repair must be done. Although any difference according to types of operation method was not found in this study, further study with larger groups seems to be necessary.
Adult ; Alcoholism/complications ; English Abstract ; Esophageal Diseases/complications/diagnosis/*surgery ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Prognosis ; Rupture, Spontaneous

Hemangioma of the esophagus is a rare form of benign esophageal tumor. It usually presents as a single lesion located in the lower third of the esophagus and is mostly asymptomatic. However, it may occasionally cause hematemesis and/or obstruction. Surgical resection is the conventional treatment modality for managing esophageal hemangioma, but less invasive approaches such as endoscopic therapy are recently becoming more widely employed. Herein, we report a case of a 54-year-old man who presented with an esophageal hemangioma that was successfully treated by endoscopic mucosal resection without any complications.
Antigens, CD31/metabolism ; Esophageal Diseases/*diagnosis/surgery ; Esophagoscopy ; Esophagus/diagnostic imaging/metabolism/pathology ; Hemangioma/*diagnosis/surgery ; Humans ; Intestinal Mucosa/metabolism/pathology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the effectiveness of endoscopic variceal ligation (EVL) in patients with different grades of liver function.

METHODSMELD scores were determined for 156 patients before their EVL operations. After the EVL these patients were followed-up and their survival rates were analyzed.

RESULTSFifty percent of the patients whose MELDs were less than or equal to 7 survived longer than 45 months after the EVL; in those with MELDs between 7 and 9, 50% of the patients survived 47.34 months; however, the figure for those whose MELD were more than 9 survived only 24.89 months. In the first two groups, 50% of the patient' survival duration was significantly longer than that of the third group. The difference was statistically significant.

CONCLUSIONEVL becomes an effective clinical way to treat hemorrhage of esophagus varicose veins. The survival rate for this procedure is directly correlated with the liver function of the patient before the EVL.

Adult ; Aged ; Esophageal and Gastric Varices ; surgery ; Female ; Humans ; Liver Diseases ; diagnosis ; physiopathology ; surgery ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Prognosis ; Treatment Outcome ; Young Adult

Adenocarcinoma ; surgery ; Candidiasis ; etiology ; Cardiac Tamponade ; diagnosis ; etiology ; Echocardiography ; Electrocardiography ; Esophageal Fistula ; complications ; diagnostic imaging ; Fever ; etiology ; Gastrectomy ; Haemophilus Infections ; etiology ; Heart Diseases ; complications ; diagnostic imaging ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Pericardial Effusion ; diagnostic imaging ; etiology ; Pericarditis ; diagnostic imaging ; etiology ; Postoperative Complications ; diagnostic imaging ; Staphylococcal Infections ; etiology ; Stomach Neoplasms ; surgery ; Streptococcal Infections ; etiology ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed