PMC3015401_01
The patient's barium swallow, revealing a mildly dilated esophagus with distal tapering to a smooth stricture at the level of the lower esophageal sphincter.
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F1
A barium esophagram revealed the classic "bird-beak" deformity, a dilated esophageal body with distal tapering to a smooth stricture at the level of the lower esophageal sphincter (Figure 1).
The patient's lower esophageal sphincter, revealing normal mucosa and no evidence of the tumor
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F2
No mucosal irregularities were present (Figure 2).
(A) Intraoperative picture showing the tumor invading the esophagus and right crus of the diaphragm. (B) A line drawing representation of the intraoperative findings.
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F3
The esophagus was bluntly mobilized off of the right crus, revealing the tumor invading both the esophagus and the diaphragm (Figure 3).
A close up of the patient's esophagus, revealing encasement of the vagus nerve by the tumor.
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F4
The right vagus nerve was encased by the tumor (Figure 4) and extension of the tumor into the aorta was suspected.
Biopsy of the patient's tumor, revealing a squamous cell carcinoma.
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F5
The pathology report was that of a poorly differentiated squamous cell carcinoma (Figure 5).
The patient's CT of the abdomen obtained postoperatively revealing (A) periaortic adenopathy, (B) infiltration of the aorta by the tumor, and (C) periaortic mass with invasion of the aorta and pericardium by the tumor.
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F6
A postoperative CAT scan revealed periaortic adenopathy, invasion of the aorta, and invasion of the pericardium (Figure 6).