| A 19 year-old man with a history of dysphagia and chest pain was diagnosed as having a cyst of the esophagus by endoscopic ultrasonography and magnetic resonance imaging. The patient's bronchogenic cyst was treated by video-assisted thoracoscopic excision with mini-thoracotomy. This procedure is applicable for patients who require repair of the esophageal wall after excision of a lesion and reduces post-operative complications. ( info) |
| The esophagus is one of the most common sites of gastrointestinal involvement in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected patients, with at least 30% of the patients having esophageal symptoms at some point during the course of HIV infection. Esophageal ulcers are commonly caused by infections such as cytomegalovirus (CMV) or may be idiopathic. The clinical presentation of the various causes of esophageal ulcers are similar; therefore, a thorough endoscopic and histological workup is imperative to make a diagnosis and, consequently, to provide appropriate therapy. The widespread use of more effective antiretroviral therapy appears to have led to a decline in gastrointestinal opportunistic disorders in patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), including those involving the esophagus. Unfortunately, there are several reports of resistance of hiv-1 to multiple antiretroviral agents, and thus it is possible we will observe an increase in various opportunistic disorders again. The aim of this article is to provide a practical approach to the clinical, endoscopic, and histopathologic evaluation of esophageal ulcers in patients with AIDS. ( info) |
13/713. Management of postfundoplication complications. The role of surgical therapy in the management of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) continues to evolve in the laparoscopic era. As the number of surgical procedures increases, so does the number of patients with postfundoplication complications. The most effective strategy is to prevent the complication in the first place. patients who are most likely to have trouble after surgery are those with refractory, atypical, or complicated disease. Gastroenterologists should take care to make an accurate diagnosis, heal the esophagitis, and dilate any strictures before sending a patient to surgery. The surgeon should be a skilled laparoscopist. In patients with complicated GERD, the surgeon must be able to recognize severe disease and perform advanced procedures. Postoperatively, symptoms are usually the same (suggesting a failure of the operation or incorrect original diagnosis) or different (suggesting a complication) than before surgery. Most patients should have a barium swallow and an endoscopy to evaluate the integrity of the wrap. If intact, postoperative heartburn and dysphagia will usually resolve with conservative therapy. If the fundoplication is poorly oriented, too long, too tight, twisted, or herniated above the diaphragm, surgical revision is often necessary. ( info) |
14/713. Spontaneous intramural hematoma of the esophagus. Spontaneous intramural hematoma of the esophagus (SIHE) is a rare condition, usually presenting with severe acute chest pain. vomiting, dysphagia, odynophagia, and hematemesis may appear later. We herein report a case of this disease in a patient treated with low doses of aspirin, and review the literature for possible etiologies for this condition. In addition, we compare the utility of the various diagnostic modalities in this uncommon condition. ( info) |
15/713. Effect of Koso-san on globus pharyngeus. Twenty-three patients with globus pharyngeus were treated with Koso-san (TJ-70) at a dose of 7.5 g/day for at least 14 days. Symptoms disappeared in 18 cases and improved in 3 cases, therefore, the effective rate was 91.3% (21/23). The symptoms disappeared on average within 13.5 days. Terasawa qi-stasis scores were significantly decreased after the treatment. TJ-70 might thus be a remedy for globus pharyngeus with qi-stasis. ( info) |
16/713. Neuromotor disorders of the esophagus. Esophageal motility studies are helpful in diagnosing hypertensive and hypotensive disorders of the esophagus and its sphincters, including the exact measurement of the strength of contraction, temporal sequence and duration of the pathophysiology involved. In addition, the assessment of the extent of neuromotor involvement may be of great help to the surgeon in planning a myotomy. PH metering is probably the most accurate way to assess reflux in hypotonic states. ( info) |
| We report the case of a 21-yr-old woman who presented with a perforation of an upper esophageal ulcer on a patch of gastric-type mucosa. Despite surgical closure of the perforation and reinforcement with a pleuro-muscular flap the patient developed an esophageal leakage and died in the postoperative period. Heterotopic gastric mucosa in the upper esophagus is usually an asymptomatic abnormality, discovered incidentally during endoscopic studies carried out for some other reason; however, complications secondary to the inlet patch acid secreting capacity can arise, and this has to be kept in mind to elude life-threatening conditions. ( info) |
18/713. Esophago-gastric invagination in patients with sliding hiatus hernia. intussusception of the distal esophagus into a reducible hiatus hernia is described in nine female and three male patients. The main radiographic feature is demonstration of a lobulated fundal mass of changeable size and configuration surrounding the narrowed distal esophageal segment. This pseudotumor is produced by inversion of the hiatus hernia into the stomach, and may be mistaken for a neoplasm. Disinvagination invariably occurs when maneuvers directed toward demonstration of a sliding hernia are utilized during upper gastrointestinal fluoroscopy. It is emphasized that esophago-gastric invagination frequently accounts for masses shown in the cardia of older women with intermittent dysphagia and crampy epigastric pain. ( info) |
19/713. A Laugier-Hunziker syndrome associated with esophageal melanocytosis. A 62-year-old Japanese woman came to our clinic because of melanotic macules on the lip, palatoglossal arch, lingual margin and palm. Endoscopic examination revealed a melanotic macule on the midesophageal mucosa but no polyposis in the gastrointestinal tract. Histologically, the specimens taken from the labial, esophageal and palmar lesions showed an acanthosis and basal hyperpigmentation in the epithelium. The patient had not taken any medication which could lead to pigmentation. As far as we know, this is the first case report of an esophageal melanocytic macule which occurred in a patient with Laugier-Hunziker syndrome. When confronted with an isolated pigment spot, we emphasize the necessity of systematic examinations for others. Because the pathologic relationship between Laugier-Hunziker syndrome and the esophageal melanocytic lesion is not proven, further studies should clarify this issue. ( info) |
20/713. Ectopic gastric mucosa in the oesophagus mimicking ulceration. We report two patients with ectopic gastric mucosa in the oesophagus in whom emergency contrast medium studies after traumatic endoscopy revealed broad, flat depressions on the right lateral wall of the upper oesophagus that could initially be mistaken for ulcers or even intramural dissections. However, the appearance and location of these lesions is so characteristic of ectopic gastric mucosa that confirmation with endoscopic biopsy specimens probably is not required in asymptomatic patients. ( info) |