J Korean Med Sci.  2010 Mar;25(3):489-491. 10.3346/jkms.2010.25.3.489.

Acute Thermal Injury of the Esophagus from Solid Food: Clinical Course and Endoscopic Findings

• Chung WC
• Paik CN
• Jung JH
• Kim JD
• Lee KM
• Yang JM

• KMID: 1778050
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.3346/jkms.2010.25.3.489

Abstract

A 53-yr-old man presented with a two-day history of odynophagia and a foreign body sensation. Two days before admission, the patient began to experience odynophagia and a foreign body sensation in the chest after swallowing several extremely hot pieces of solid food (prawn) in haste. Endoscopy revealed a huge longitudinal ulcer, typical of friable hyperemic mucosa with necrotic debris along the full length of the esophagus in the posterolateral region. Here we present the clinical course of serial endoscopy of an acute thermal injury of the esophagus caused by solid food.

Keyword

Acute Thermal Injury; Esophagus; Solid Food

MeSH Terms

Animals
*Endoscopy
Esophagus/*pathology
*Food
Hot Temperature/*adverse effects
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
Wound Healing

Figure

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  Fig. 1 Endoscopic and microscopic findings of the esophageal ulcer. (A) At three days after the initial event, endoscopy shows a huge longitudinal ulcer, with severely erythematous friable mucosa and marginal necrotic debris. (B) Histological findings show the marked ulceration with activated endothelial cells.

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  Fig. 2 At eight days after the initial event, endoscopy shows hyperemic mucosa and intervening whitish pseudomembrane.

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  Fig. 3 Eight weeks after the event, endoscopy shows normal mucosa in the esophagus with the rim (arrows) of the previous ulcer still visible.

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