title: The eminent anatomists who discovered the upper oesophageal sphincter.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To discover the anatomist who first identified the upper oesophageal sphincter.
  
  
  METHODS
  The authors searched dozens of antique anatomy textbooks kept in the old section of the 'Vincenzo Pinali' Medical Library of Padua University, looking for descriptions of the upper oesophageal sphincter.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The oesophageal sphincter was drawn correctly only in 1601, by Julius Casserius, in the book De vocis auditusque organis historia anatomica… (which translates as 'An Anatomical History on the Organs of Voice and Hearing …'), and was properly described by Antonio Maria Valsalva in 1704 in the book De aure humana tractatus… ('Treatise on the Human Ear …').
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Anatomists Casserius and Valsalva can be considered the discoverers of the 'oesophageal sphincter'.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Otolaryngology, Department of Neurosciences,University of Padova,Italy.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Marchese-Ragona
authors.affiliation: Institute of Otolaryngology, Department of Neurosciences,University of Padova,Italy.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ottaviano
authors.affiliation: Department of Rehabilitation,University of Padova,Italy.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Masiero
authors.affiliation: Institute of Otolaryngology, Department of Neurosciences,University of Padova,Italy.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Staffieri
authors.affiliation: Institute of Otolaryngology, Department of Neurosciences,University of Padova,Italy.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Martini
authors.affiliation: Institute of Otolaryngology, Department of Neurosciences,University of Padova,Italy.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Staffieri
authors.affiliation: Institute of Otolaryngology, Department of Neurosciences,University of Padova,Italy.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mion
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery and Cancer,St. Mary's Hospital, Imperial College,London,UK.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Zaninotto
authors.affiliation: Neurological Department,Garibaldi Hospital,Catania,Italy.
authors.forename: D A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Restivo
mesh_terms: D054814:Anatomists / Q000266:history*; D000715:Anatomy / Q000266:history*; D004943:Esophagogastric Junction / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D006666:History of Medicine; D049669:History, 16th Century; D049670:History, 17th Century; D049671:History, 18th Century; D049691:History, Medieval; D006801:Humans; D010609:Pharyngeal Muscles / Q000033:anatomy & histology