Congenital cricopharyngeal achalasia treatment by dilatations.
An infant with cricopharyngeal achalasia, recurrent aspiration pneumonia, and severe failure to thrive was fed for 5 months through a nasogastric tube. She responded promptly to dilatations of the spastic cricopharyngeal muscle. Normal oral feedings followed the treatment with progressive weight gain and no further pulmonary complications over a follow-up period of 1 1/2 years. Dilatations were used in the infant described here, in analogy to the well-known success of treatment by dilatations in infants with achalasia of the lower esophagus.
D003413:Cricoid Cartilage / Q000473:pathology*; D004106:Dilatation; D004931:Esophageal Achalasia / Q000151:congenital* / Q000628:therapy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007234:Infant, Premature; D007817:Laryngeal Cartilages / Q000473:pathology*; D007818:Laryngeal Diseases / Q000151:congenital / Q000628:therapy; D010608:Pharyngeal Diseases / Q000151:congenital* / Q000628:therapy