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Review
. 2013 Mar 19:14:109.
doi: 10.11604/pamj.2013.14.109.2000. Print 2013.

Acute esophageal necrosis: a case report and review

Mounia Lahbabi  1 , Adil Ibrahimi, Nouredine Aqodad
Affiliations
Review

Acute esophageal necrosis: a case report and review

Mounia Lahbabi et al. Pan Afr Med J. .

Abstract

Acute esophageal necrosis, commonly referred to as "black esophagus" or "acute necrotizing esophagitis", is a rare clinical disorder with an unclear etiology. The definition excludes patients with a history of recent caustic ingestion. Oesophageal necrosis can be diagnosed at endoscopy by the presence of black necroting appearing oesophagus. Contrary to the caustic oesophagitis whose treatment is often surgical, treatment of the acute necrositing oesophagitis is primarily medical. The prognosis for patients who develop acute necrotizing oesophagitis is generally poor. We report a new case of acute necrotizing oesophagitis and undertook a literature review of this rare diagnosis.

Keywords: Black oesophagus; acute oesophageal necrosis; gastrointestinal haemorrhage; ischemia; necrotizing esophagitis.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Endoscopic view showing of the upper third of the esophagus, which is circumferentially congestive associated with diffuse bleeding
Figure 2
Figure 2
Endoscopic view showing of the middle and lower third of the esophagus, which had circumferentially black pigmentation: the mucosa was black and covered by an exudate of the same color
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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