A WIDE variety of benign neoplasms may arise from the esophagus, including leiomyomas, fibromas, hemangiomas, adenomas, polyps, papillomas, mucoceles, neurofibromas, myxofibromas, and lipomas. It is well recognized that these lesions are rare. A careful review of the literature serves to confirm this impression.1
In examining the literature from 1717 to 1932, Patterson1a found only 62 cases of benign tumors of the esophagus, all incidental postmortem findings. Adams and Hoover1e added 26 additional cases from 1933 to 1943, bringing the total to 91 cases.
There has been a relative increase in the number of cases recorded since 1944, with Harrington and Moersch1p reporting 15 benign esophageal tumors among 11,000 patients complaining of dysphagia. These same authors found 44 benign tumors of the esophagus, of which 32 were leiomyomas, in a series of 7,459 postmortem examinations. Schafer and Kittle,1f in 1947, surveying 6,001 autopsies at the University