Isolated Crohn's disease of the esophagus.

Isolated Crohn's disease of the esophagus. Turk J Gastroenterol. 2013 Feb;24(1):80-1 Authors: Cheng Q Abstract Crohn's disease (CD) is a chronic inflammatory disease of unknown etiology characterized by chronic, granulomatous, segmental transmural inflammation that may occur in any part of the alimentary tract from the mouth to the anus. In the human upper digestive tract, the esophagus is the segment least commonly involved in CD (1,2). Further, almost all esophageal CD has coexisted with the disease of such sites as the ileum, rectum and colorectum, with only 12 cases in the literature having been described as isolated esophageal involvement of CD (1,3,4). Here, we report a patient with isolated esophageal CD who underwent esophagectomy for severe esophageal stricture with spontaneous perforation into the mediastinum. A 60-year-old man was admitted to our hospital with complaints of progressive dysphagia for over two months, with sudden appearance of heartburn for seven days, without fever, cough, diarrhea, or abdominal pain. On admission, a barium swallow examination showed an irregular narrowing of the middle esophagus (Figure 1a). Esophagoscopy revealed the presence of a circular stricture of the esophagus at 25 cm from the incisor teeth, with only the pediatric gastroscope able to pass the stricture (Figure 2a). His stomach and duodenum appeared normal. A thoracic computed tomography scan revealed a thickened middle esophageal wall, with...
Source: The Turkish Journal of Gastroenterology - Category: Gastroenterology Authors: Tags: Turk J Gastroenterol Source Type: research