title: Correlative anatomy for the esophagus.
abstract: Because the esophagus is a tubular muscular structure only partially filled with air and surrounded by major structures (vessels, lungs, and heart), its radiologic evaluation cannot be performed solely by conventional chest radiograph or barium studies. The emergence of newer techniques has had a dramatic effect on the use of luminal contrast examinations of the gastrointestinal tract. This article describes the current radiographic techniques for examining the gastrointestinal tract with contrast materials, emphasizing the role of barium suspensions, computed tomography scan, and magnetic resonance imaging, and illustrating normal anatomy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Thoracic Surgery, Santa Casa de Misericordia Hospital, Praça Cons Almeida Couto #500, Centro Medico Celso Figueroa, Sala 207, Nazaré 40000, Salvador-Ba, Brazil.
authors.forename: Paula A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Ugalde
authors.forename: Sergio Tadeu
authors.initials: ST
authors.lastname: Pereira
authors.forename: Cesar
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Araujo
mesh_terms: D004947:Esophagus / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed