Pseudoachalasia as First Manifestation of a Malignancy

We describe a 16-year-old high school student referred for management of achalasia who turned out to have pseudoachalasia due to adenocarcinoma of the cardia. He was cured with preoperative chemotherapy followed by radical surgery. Therapy of pseudoachalasia secondary to neoplasia is directed against the tumor or may be palliative to keep the lumen open. Other causes of pseudoachalasia include esophageal motility disturbances as a paraneoplastic phenomenon (e.g., with small cell lung cancer), post fundoplication or post bariatric surgery, in association with a thoracic aortic aneurysm, or with sarcoidosis or amyloidosis. Therapy is directed accordingly to eliminate or correct the underlying cause.Dig Dis
Source: Digestive Diseases - Category: Gastroenterology Source Type: research