title: Successful treatment of a spontaneous esophageal rupture in an elderly patient: a case report.
abstract: An 80-year-old woman was admitted to our hospital with severe chest and back pains after vomiting. Computed tomography (CT) of the chest revealed left-sided pneumothorax and pleural effusion. Some food was drained from an inserted chest tube, and we diagnosed spontaneous esophageal rupture (Boerhaave's syndrome). A left thoracotomy was performed 7 hours after the onset of symptoms. A 3-cm perforation was discovered in the lateral wall of the distal esophagus. The perforation was repaired with a primary two-layered closure and covered with pericardial fat. The patient had a good postoperative course and was discharged 1 month after surgery. This case suggests the importance of early surgical treatment, even in elderly patients with spontaneous esophageal rupture.
authors.affiliation: Surgery for Organ Function and Biological Regulation, Graduate School of Medicine, Nippon Medical School, Tokyo, Japan. shinozuka@nms.ac.jp
authors.forename: Eriko
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Shinozuka
authors.forename: Tsutomu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nomura
authors.forename: Masao
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Miyashita
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Makino
authors.forename: Keiichi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Okawa
authors.forename: Nobutoshi
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Hagiwara
authors.forename: Kengo
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Shigehara
authors.forename: Ichiro
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Akagi
authors.forename: Yoshinobu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Shioda
authors.forename: Eiji
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Uchida
mesh_terms: D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D004935:Esophageal Diseases / Q000601:surgery*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D012422:Rupture, Spontaneous