A Case Report of Esophageal Cyst

Akira Sasaki, Kaoru Sasaki, Bunichiro Murata, Toshio Sasaki, Hiroaki Ozasa*, Tetsuro Nishida**

Sasaki Hospital of Surgery
*The Second Department of Surgery, Yamaguchi University School of Medicine
**The First Department of Pathology, Fukuoka University School of Medicine

Esophageal cyst is a rare disease. We found such a cyst in a 53 year old male. On a routine upper endoscopy as part of a physical examination, a submucosal tumor was found on the lower esophagus. Right thoracotomy was performed under the diagnosis of a mediastinal tumor or esophageal leiomyoma by barium meal study, plain chest X-ray and chest CT scan. The tumor was located in the wall of the esophagus and it was presumed to arise from the esophagus. This tumor, 2.8×2.2×2.2 cm in size, was a monolocular cyst and contained thick greenish brown material. Microscopic examination revealed a lining of ciliated columnar epithelium. The underlying stroma contained double thick layers of smooth muscle, mucous gland, and Auerbach's plexus but no cartilage. It is rather difficult to differentiate an esophageal cyst from a paraesophageal bronchogenic cyst because of their foregut cyst origin. In this case, the esophageal cyst was considered from the microscopic findings.

Key words
esophageal cyst, foregut cyst, posterior mediastinal tumor

Reprint requests
Akira Sasaki Sasaki Hospital of Surgery
9-13, Sento-cho, Yamagichi-shi, 753 JAPAN

Accepted
February 13, 1991

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