We read with interest Junemann-Ramirez and colleagues’ article [1] on esophagogastric anastomotic leaks and their analysis of predictive factors, management and survival. We agree with the authors that esophagogastric anastomotic leaks are the most devastating of complications after esophageal resection and that they carry high morbidity and mortality rates. The choice of surgical procedure has...

OBJECTIVES There is no generally accepted treatment strategy for cervical esophageal carcinoma. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the operative outcomes of reconstruction after resection of cervical esophageal and hypopharynx-esophagus junction carcinoma with larynx preservation. METHODS We retrospectively reviewed the data of 79 patients with carcinoma of the hypopharynx-esophagus ju...

HYPOTHESIS En bloc esophagectomy (EBE) provides improved survival over transhiatal esophagectomy (THE) in patients with similarly sized transmural tumors (T3) and lymph node metastases (N1). DESIGN A retrospective case-control study of 2 methods of esophageal resection for cancer. SETTING University hospital (tertiary referral center for esophageal disease). PATIENTS There were 49 patient...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE Our objective was to compare clinical outcomes, costs, and resource use based on operative approach, transthoracic (TT) or transhiatal (TH), for resection of esophageal cancer. METHODS This cohort analysis utilized the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results--Medicare linked data from 2002 to 2009. Only adenocarcinomas of the lower esophagus were examined to minim...

UNLABELLED Benign stricture formation at the cervical anastomosis after transhiatal esophagectomy with gastric tube interposition is an important source of morbidity. In a large group of patients (n = 269) who had undergone transhiatal esophagectomy with gastric tube interposition, we examined surgical and nonsurgical risk factors for the development of benign strictures at the cervical anastom...

AIM To assess nutritional recovery, particularly regarding feeding jejunostomy tube (FJT) utilization, following upper gastrointestinal resection for malignancy. METHODS A retrospective review was performed of a prospectively-maintained database of adult patients who underwent esophagectomy or gastrectomy (subtotal or total) for cancer with curative intent, from January 2001 to June 2014. Pat...