Intramural esophageal dissection in a young man with eosinophilic esophagitis

Abstract

Intramural esophageal dissection is a rare disorder that should be considered in patients presenting with chest pain, dysphagia, and hematemesis. Although most commonly occurring in elderly women with impaired coagulation, esophageal dissection has also been observed in other demographics including in those with eosinophilic esophagitis. In our report, we present the case of a 19-year-old man who was found to have an intramural esophageal dissection in the setting of undiagnosed eosinophilic esophagitis. There have been multiple, proposed management strategies; however, we implemented a nonoperative approach and obtained successful results. Intramural esophageal dissection is an important diagnosis for thoracic surgeons to be aware of as these patients often present as surgical emergencies, but often do not require an acute surgical intervention.