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Ultrasonographic findings of pharyngoesophageal diverticulum: two case reports and review of literature

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Abstract

Pharyngoesophageal diverticulum is a rare disease characterized by an alimentary tract pouch or a circular dilated cavity arising from the esophagus. Barium swallow and endoscopy are the gold standard for the diagnosis of pharyngoesophageal diverticulum. However, routine ultrasonography can be employed as a noninvasive alternative. We report two patients with cervical esophageal diverticulum diagnosed by ultrasonography. It has been reported in the literature that pharyngoesophageal diverticulum resembles a thyroid or parathyroid nodule on ultrasonogram. We summarize the ultrasonic findings of pharyngoesophageal diverticulum to avoid unnecessary fine-needle aspirate biopsy or surgical treatment.

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Conflict of interest

Ping Zhou, Yang Shao, and Yong-feng Zhao declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical standard

All procedures were in accordance with the ethical standards of the responsible committee on human experimentation of the Third Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, Hunan, China, and with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975, as revised in 2008 (5). Informed consent was obtained from the patients. The article does not contain any studies with animals performed by any of the authors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Ultrasound, the Third Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, Changsha, 410013, Hunan, China

    Yang Shao, Ping Zhou & Yongfeng Zhao

Authors
  1. Yang Shao
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  2. Ping Zhou
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  3. Yongfeng Zhao
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Correspondence to Ping Zhou.

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Shao, Y., Zhou, P. & Zhao, Y. Ultrasonographic findings of pharyngoesophageal diverticulum: two case reports and review of literature. J Med Ultrasonics 42, 553–557 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10396-015-0631-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10396-015-0631-7

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