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Pediatric Achalasia

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Achalasia

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Abstract

While achalasia is fairly common in the adult age, it is very rare in the pediatric population. In children, achalasia presents specific challenges in term of diagnosis and treatment. In fact, the rarity of achalasia and presence of symptoms that mimic common pediatric diagnoses may lead to misdiagnosis in children with this disease. In addition, in the pediatric population, there are currently no definitive guidelines for treating achalasia. The general principles of treatment are similar to those utilized in adults, although responses to specific interventions differ somewhat. The goal of this chapter is to illustrate the challenges in diagnosis and treatment of children with achalasia.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of General Surgery, University of British Columbia, 950 West 10th. Avenue, Vancouver, BC, V5Z 1M9, Canada

    Farhana Shariff MD

  2. Department of Pediatric Surgery, Maine Medical Center, ME, Tufts University School of Medicine, 887 Congress St., Suite 300, Boston, ME, 04102, USA

    Monica Langer BSc, MD, FACS

Authors
  1. Farhana Shariff MD
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  2. Monica Langer BSc, MD, FACS
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Correspondence to Monica Langer BSc, MD, FACS .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Brigham and Women’s Hospital Harvard Medical School, West Roxbury, Massachusetts, USA

    P. Marco Fisichella

  2. Surgery, São Paulo Medical School, São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil

    Fernando A. M. Herbella

  3. Surgery, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, USA

    Marco G. Patti

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Shariff, F., Langer, M. (2016). Pediatric Achalasia. In: Fisichella, P., Herbella, F., Patti, M. (eds) Achalasia. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-13569-4_19

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-13569-4_19

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

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