• Achalasia: A rare disease in which the lower esophageal sphincter does not relax properly. Difficulty swallowing and regurgitation of food are symptoms.
  • Esophageal Cancer: Although serious, cancer of the esophagus is uncommon. Risk factors for esophageal cancer include smoking, heavy drinking, and chronic reflux.
  • Mallory-Weiss tear: Vomiting or retching creates a tear in the lining of the esophagus. The esophagus bleeds into the stomach, often followed by vomiting blood.
  • Esophageal varices: In people with cirrhosis, veins in the esophagus may become engorged and bulge. Called varices, these veins are vulnerable to life-threatening bleeding.
  • Esophageal ring (Schatzki's ring): A common, benign accumulation of tissue in a ring around the low end of the esophagus. Schatzki's rings usually cause no symptoms, but may cause difficulty swallowing.
Esophagus Medical Conditions
  • Heartburn: An incompletely closed LES allows acidic stomach contents to back up (reflux) into the esophagus. Reflux can cause heartburn, cough or hoarseness, or no symptoms at all.
  • Gastroesophageal reflux disease(GERD): When reflux occurs frequently or is bothersome, it's called gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD).
  • Esophagitis: Inflammation of the esophagus. Esophagitis can be due to irritation (as from reflux or radiation treatment) or infection.
  • Barrett,s esophagus: Regular reflux of stomach acid irritates the esophagus, which may cause the lower part to change its structure. Very infrequently, Barrett's esophagus progresses to esophageal cancer.
  • Esophageal ulcer: An erosion in an area of the lining of the esophagus. This is often caused by chronic reflux.
  • Esophageal stricture: A narrowing of the esophagus. Chronic irritation from reflux is the usual cause of esophageal strictures.
  • Esophageal web: An accumulation of tissue (similar to an esophageal ring) that usually occurs in the upper esophagus. Like rings, esophageal webs usually cause no symptoms.
  • Plummer-Vinson syndrome: A condition including chronic iron-deficient anemia, esophageal webs, and difficulty swallowing. Iron replacement and dilation of esophageal webs are treatments.
  • Esophageal stricture: A narrowing of the esophagus, from a variety of causes, which, if narrow enough, may lead to difficult swallowing.
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