Esophageal foreign bodies rarely cause respiratory distress in adults. While it is well known that upper airway obstruction can occur with esophageal foreign bodies in children, the otorlaryngologic literature mentions little of this problem in older patients. Two adults with airway obstruction from unsuspected esophageal foreign bodies are described, with emphasis on the problems of diagnosis ...

Hemangiomas that arise in cervical esophagus are extremely rare, representing 3.3% of all benign esophageal tumors. Although endoscopic mucosal resection (EMR) and potassium titanyl phosphate/yttrium aluminum garnet (KTP/YAG) laser therapy have been used with success for small tumors, the safety and efficacy in the case of large tumors remains uncertain. We report the successful resection of ce...

BACKGROUND Giant fibrovascular polyps (FVP) are relatively rare benign neoplasm of the upper esophagus and hypopharynx. Without previous history, their diagnosis might be difficult as the endoscopic findings are sometimes misinterpretedMaterials and methods: The present report describes a case, in which the patient regurgitated his giant polypoid mass into his mouth and captured it between his ...

Foreign body ingestion is common in patients with psychiatric diagnoses. Ingested objects can become impacted in the upper and lower gastrointestinal tract, causing serious complications. We report a case of a schizophrenic who ingested large pieces of computer circuit boards, which impacted at the mid-esophagus, in the stomach, and in the cecum. Endoscopic removal of the esophageal object was ...

Foreign body ingestion is a commonly encountered problem and can cause significant morbidity and mortality. When removal of a foreign body from the upper gastrointestinal tract is indicated, endoscopy is the modality of choice and has a high reported success rate. However, in less than 1% of cases, endoscopic removal of a foreign body is unsuccessful and surgical intervention is necessary. We r...

BACKGROUND Left atrial appendage (LAA) exclusion is a well-known procedure for the prevention of stroke in high-risk patients with atrial fibrillation and contraindication to long-term oral anticoagulant therapy. OBJECTIVE To evaluate a natural orifice transluminal endoscopic surgery (NOTES) approach for LAA ligation. DESIGN In 4 acute and 6 survival pigs, we performed LAA by using a forwar...