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Article
April 1951

POSSIBLE ETIOLOGICAL FACTOR IN A PHARYNGOESOPHAGEAL DIVERTICULUM

Author Affiliations

NEWPORT NEWS, VA.
From the Surgical Department, Elizabeth Buxton Hospital.

AMA Arch Surg. 1951;62(4):601-603. doi:10.1001/archsurg.1951.01250030609020
Abstract

THE SUBJECT of pharyngoesophageal diverticulum is an interesting one, not because the diverticula are rare but because the etiological factors are not definitely known. Most of the authors, including Lahey1 and Harrington,2 feel that there is a true herniation of the mucosa and submucosa of the esophagus, probably resulting from a congenital weakness plus the pulsion force of swallowing which causes the herniation. King3 also states that herniation of the esophageal wall may result from pressure of the lower border of the cricoid cartilage against the ridge of the fifth cervical vertebral joint. Bortone4 shows that the pouch usually arises just above the beginning of the esophagus and bulges through the cricoid-pharyngeal muscle and the herniation probably results from mechanical pressure. Scott5 feels that it is a congenital anomaly in which repeated pressure on a weak area loosens the attachment of the cricopharyngeal muscle and

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