Tuesday, August 25, 2015

A 61 Year Old Woman With Halitosis And Regurgitation Of Ingested Food.

A 61-year-old woman visits her doctor's office complaining of halitosis, regurgitation of undigested food 4 hours after eating, and heartburn. She also feels that the food is sticking in her throat. A Barium swallow done during the workup for her symptoms is shown below:



What is the most probable diagnosis?
.
.
Zenker Diverticulum

Case Discussion:

Zenker diverticulm which is also known as a pharyngeal pouch, is the puslsion of the mucosa of the pharynx just above the upper sphincter of the esophagus. ( just above the cricophrangeal muscle).
It is a false diverticulum as it does not involve all the layers of the esophageal wall.
It is a rare lesion and is commonly seen in elderly people.

Etiology: A complete understanding of the etiology of Zenker diverticulum is still not known. A few hypothesis include:

  • incomplete cricophrangeal muscle relaxation.
  • elevated resting tone of the entire upper esophageal sphincter.
  • loss of cricopharangeal muscle elasticity.
  • focal spastic damage to the  cricopharangeal mucsle.
  • cricopharangeal muscle spasm secondary to long standing GERD.
Clinical Features: include:
  • Dysphagia i.e difficulty  in swallowing and feeling of a lump in the throat.
  • Regurgitation of undigested food, hours after eating.
  • Feeling of food sticky in the throat.
  • Halitosis (bad smelly breath as stagnant food is digested by microorganisms).
  • Cough after eating due to regurgitation of food into the airways.
  • Unexplained weight loss.
Diagnosis: The simple barium swallow will normally reveal the diverticulum . An upper endoscopy can also help in diagnosis and show the diverticulum. 



Treatment: Zenker Diverticulum requires any treatment intervention only if it is producing symptoms. Some surgeons suggest to operate early as it tends to increase in size with time. 
Small lesions are satisfactorily treated with cricophrangeaus myotomy with or without invagination procedure. 
Now in some patients endoscopic laser may be helpful without the need for surgery. 

2 comments:

  1. Hello, my name is Betty. i was diagnosed of HIV virus 4 years back. Before then, i was dating this Derrick guy. we had something great going on. Our love life only lasted for 8 months. the sixth and seven month of our relationship, i began feeling very weak every now and then. But i never suspected anything until I kept on experiencing different symptoms like having sore throats, constant headache, body weakness e.t.c. I decided to go for a medical check up. I was tested HIV positive. when the doctor broke the news to me, it was as if my whole world had crumbled. it dawned on me then that Derrick has been lying to me. i was very mad to an extent i almost committed suicide. But there was nothing i could do, other than weep and weep. ever since then, i have been spending heavily on medications, going from one medical clinic or the other so I can look healthy. Though since i was a kid, i love herbs a lot. i take herbal tea with grandma while growing so i am quite familiar with herbs. early last year, i was on the internet and on a particular health blog, to check for herbal medication as alternative. I saw many comments and read many testimonies. Until i came across a particular testimony on how Dr.ugo cured a patient from herpes simplex virus using pure natural herbs. i reached out to the doctor because I also was thinking Herpes had no cure. I told him about my HIV status.He encouraged me not to panic that he will help me get my deliverance. he prepared some herbs and sent them to me. The herbs were in four 70ml bottles and I took them morning and night. i used as he directed, and in less than three weeks, i started having appetite to eat plenty of food and i gained back my strength. the fourth week,I consumed all the herbal meds. He encouraged me to go for a test which i did. This time, the result was negative. I quickly contacted the doctor and informed him of the news. I immediately asked him to prepare for Derrick too. He did and sent it. Today, me and Derrick are HIV free. All thanks goes to God Almighty for healing us through Dr.Ugo. if you are having any kind of sickness at all, Dr.Ugo is the right person to talk to and i assure you, you will be glad you did. His email: ugoherbalhome@gmail.com you can also write him on WhatsApp +2348104990619.

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    I told my Aunt,luckily it was the same Dr,we where referred to few months back by my pastor in church whom members have being testifying about of his cure We did contacted him and explained my problem to him.He prepared the medicine and sent to me with details of how to use and apply. After a while, I began to feel more strong than never before, I felt so lucky and happy when my Doctor congratulated me that he could found no HIV virus again in me. I knew I was free cos my body was so strong. His herbal medicine should have saved my parents life, i said!
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