Tubular duplication of the esophagus. Contribution of magnetic resonance imaging in anatomical analysis before surgery

Abstract

The authors report a tubular duplication of the thoracic esophagus in a 17-year-old male. This anomaly, rare in the adult, can be explained either by a failure of esotracheal compartmentalisation, or a notochordodysraphy or more probably by an error during vacuolisation of the esophagus. The anatomical characteristics of the duplication were clearly seen on MRI. This investigation showed the intramural duplication, with only a thin barrier without muscle, between the esophageal lumen and the duplication channel two communications were present between the esophageal lumen and the duplication. The esophagus was accessed by right thoracotomy. The close contact between the duplication and the esophagus did not allow them to be separated. A subtotal esophagectomy was necessary, with digestive continuity being restored by coloplasty after a left cervicotomy and a laparotomy. The anatomy seen on the MRI should have predicted that an esophagectomy was necessary and that a thoracotomy could have been avoided by performing the procedure with a closed thorax.