Congenital Esophageal Stenosis: A Rare Case of Childhood Dysphasia

Abstract

Congenital esophageal stenosis (CES) is a rare cause of esophageal dysphagia. It is secondary to failure of complete separation of respiratory tract from primitive gut in early fetal life. Diagnosis may be delayed requiring high index of clinical suspicion and esophagogram studies. Final diagnosis of the subtype may require histopathological examination. Treatment may range from endoscopic dilatation in mild cases to esophageal resection in severe cases. In this article, we describe a rare case of congenital esophageal stenosis presenting in late childhood as dysphagia with characteristic barium esophagogram study. Very few cases have been reported in the medical literature in the past.