title: Acute airway obstruction in a patient with achalasia.
abstract: Megaesophagus resulting from achalasia is a rare but serious cause of acute airway obstruction. We treated achalasia in a 52-year-old woman with acute respiratory distress and stridor. Chest X-ray and endoscopy showed a marked dilatation of the cervical esophagus with a large amount of undigested food. Emergency suction of the food through a nasogastric tube led to decompression of the esophagus and the immediate relief of respiratory symptoms. These findings suggest a dysfunction of the upper esophageal sphincter as a possible mechanism. As this exceptional complication of achalasia is fatal, a wider appreciation is required.
authors: Department of Gastroenterogy and Hepatology, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, Japan. shmiyamo@kuhp.kyoto-u.ac.jp
authors: Shin'ichi
authors: S
authors: Miyamoto
authors: Yoshitaka
authors: Y
authors: Konda
authors: Masashi
authors: M
authors: Matsui
authors: Kazuya
authors: K
authors: Sawada
authors: Kazuki
authors: K
authors: Ikeda
authors: Norihiko
authors: N
authors: Watanabe
authors: Chiharu
authors: C
authors: Kawanami
authors: Tsutomu
authors: T
authors: Chiba
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000402:Airway Obstruction / Q000209:etiology*; D004931:Esophageal Achalasia / Q000150:complications*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged