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Case Reports
. 2016 Jan 20;3(2):88-91.
doi: 10.14309/crj.2016.9. eCollection 2016 Jan.

The Black Esophagus: A Rare But Deadly Disease

Shervin Shafa  1 , Neil Sharma  2 , Jonathan Keshishian  3 , Evan S Dellon  4
Affiliations
Case Reports

The Black Esophagus: A Rare But Deadly Disease

Shervin Shafa et al. ACG Case Rep J. .

Abstract

We present a series of cases of acute esophageal necrosis along with a video demonstration. The video captures a case showing the severity of necrosis of the esophageal mucosa; an orogastric tube easily passed through the esophageal lumen and into the right hemithorax. The series also demonstrates the severity of this illness, with an associated high mortality rate.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Chest x-ray from case 1 showing a large right-sided pneumothorax with an orogastric tube (arrows) malpositioned in the right hemithorax.
Figure 2
Figure 2
(A) The initial endoscopic appearance in case 4 showing black esophagus with diffuse and circumferential esophageal necrosis. (B) A severe esophageal stricture persisted even after healing, which required serial dilations to maintain patency.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Initial endoscopic appearance in case 6 showing black esophagus with a dusky appearance to the mucosa representing necrosis.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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