Open AccessA black perforated esophagus treated with surgery: Report of a case
Author(s) -
Roosmarijn Lysbeth Groenveld,
Alderina Bijlsma,
Pascal Steenvoorde,
Alaattin Ozdemir
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
world journal of gastrointestinal surgery
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 1948-9366
DOI - 10.4240/wjgs.v5.i6.199
Subject(s) - medicine , esophagus , surgery , perforation , general surgery , materials science , punching , metallurgy
A case of a perforated black esophagus treated with minimal invasive surgery is presented. A 68-year-old women underwent a right-sided hemihepatectomy and radio frequency ablation of two metastasis in the left liver lobe. Previous history revealed a hemicolectomy for an obstructive colon carcinoma with post-operative chemotherapy. Postoperatively she developed severe dyspnea due to a perforation of the esophagus with leakage to the pleural space. Video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) to adequately drain the perforation was performed. Gastroscopy revealed a perforated black esophagus. The black esophagus, acute esophageal necrosis or Gurvits syndrome is a rare entity with an unknown aetiology which is likely to be multifactorial. The estimated mortality rate is high. To our knowledge, this is the first case published of early VATS used in a case of perforated black esophagus.