In the correlation of subjective symptoms and clinical findings, including roentgenography, in conditions referable to the esophagus, endoscopic examination is of major importance. Visually, the lesion producing the symptoms may be studied and the nature of the condition determined. The roentgenographic findings with a proper interpretation should be available before and during endoscopic examination.
Dilations are not so striking by means of the esophagoscope as when seen roentgenographically with the esophagus filled with some radioopaque fluid. Kinks and changes in normal direction are easily made out roentgenographically. The roentgenogram shows only the outline of the esophagus, either constricted within the lumen of the tube or with the lumen lessened by pressure from outside. Of course, in the great majority of cases, the nature of this constriction may be diagnosed entirely by the roentgenogram, but the visual examination by means of the tube adds materially to exactness in completing