Closure mechanisms at the cardia with special reference to the diaphragmatico-oesophageal elastic ligament.

There is much evidence that regurgitated gastric juice may injure the oesophagus, destroying the surface layers and causing inflammation in surviving tissues. The lesion referred to variously as peptic, digestion, or reflux oesophagitis is common and may be serious, even fatal, in its immediate or late effects or both. The pathology of the disease will be discussed in a later communication. There is no general agreement at present about the nature of the closure mechanisms at the cardia, which are, as Barrett and Franklin (1949) said,