An unusual cause of pseudoachalasia

Abstract

Alport syndrome (AS) is a hereditary disease characterized by glomerular nephropathy progressing to end-stage renal disease, frequently associated with sensorineural deafness and ocular abnormalities. Rarely, AS coexists with diffuse leiomyomatosis, a benign proliferation of smooth muscle in the gastrointestinal tract, mostly of the oesophagus, but also of the tracheobronchial tree and the female genital tract. Patients with this association have been shown to have contiguous gene deletion involving both COL4A5 and COL4A6 genes. The authors report the case of a 25-year-old man with AS and long-standing dysphagia. The patient received a renal transplant at the age of 23 because of end-stage renal disease. Clinical assessment as well as endoscopic, manometric and radiologic studies suggested the diagnosis of achalasia, which was treated by Heller's myotomy with Dor fundoplication. Postprocedure dysphagia led to an endoscopic ultrasound that showed diffuse thickening of the second layer, resulting in the hypothesis of oesophageal leiomyomatosis. The diagnosis was confirmed through histological study of endoscopic biopsies and genetic analysis.