What Is Megaesophagus?

Esophageal: Name of human organ. The esophagus. The upper and lower pharynx are connected to the gastric cardia by a slender tube, which is the channel for eating and entering the stomach, also known as the "esophagus".

Esophageal: Name of human organ. The esophagus. The upper and lower pharynx are connected to the gastric cardia by a slender tube, which is the channel for eating and entering the stomach, also known as the "esophagus".

Chinese name

esophagus

Foreign name

esophagus

Definition

Digestive tube between pharynx and stomach

Types of

organ

Pinyin

Shi Guan

Esophagus overview

Oesophagus: It is a part of the digestive tract, which is connected to the pharynx and descends along the vertebral body of the spine. It passes through the esophageal hiatus of the diaphragm into the stomach, with a total length of about 25 cm. According to the stroke of the esophagus, it can be divided into three parts: neck, chest and abdomen. The esophagus is mainly composed of anterior muscle layer (inner layer) and longitudinal muscle layer (outer layer). The contraction and peristalsis of these two muscles force food into the stomach, so its main role is to push food into the stomach.

Esophagus anatomy

It is a oblate muscular tube that transports food and is located in front of the spine. The upper end is connected to the pharynx at the height of the lower edge of the sixth cervical vertebra. The lower end passes through the diaphragm to the left of the 11th thoracic spine and connects to the cardia of the stomach. The total length is about 25 cm. The length from the central incisor to the end of the esophagus is about 40 to 42 cm.

The esophageal mucosa is moist and smooth, pink, and the lower esophageal mucosa is slightly light gray. There are 7 to 10 longitudinal folds on the mucous membrane, which protrude toward the inner cavity and help the fluid to flow downward.

The submucosal layer of the esophagus is composed of loose connective tissue and is bounded between the mucosa and the muscular layer. It contains larger blood vessels, nerves, lymphatic vessels, and esophageal glands.

The esophageal muscle layer is divided into two layers, the inner ring and the outer longitudinal layer, with a thickness of about 2 millimeters. Elastic fibers are sandwiched between the two layers. The muscle layer in the upper part of the esophagus is striated muscle, and there is no longitudinal muscle fiber in the back. Circular muscles at both ends of the esophagus are more developed, similar to the sphincter. The middle part of the esophagus is a region where striated muscles and smooth muscles are mixed, and the lower part of the esophagus is composed of smooth muscles.

The outer membrane of the esophagus is made up of loose connective tissue and is rich in blood vessels, lymphatic vessels and nerves.

Inappropriate exercise time, irregular eating, excessive exercise can cause upper gastrointestinal bleeding. More common in basketball and runners.

Four physiological narrows of the esophagus

The esophagus is a muscular tube with an average diameter of 2 cm (approximately 25 cm in length) and continues from the pharynx to the stomach. Barium meal fluoroscopy shows that there are four physiological narrows in the normal esophagus, which are formed by the compression of adjacent structures.

The first stenosis is located at the beginning of the esophagus, about 15 cm from the central incisor, and is formed by compression of the cyclopharyngeal muscle, which is clinically called the superior esophageal sphincter.

The second stenosis is located at the intersection of the esophagus and the aortic arch, about 22.5 cm from the central incisor.

The third stenosis is located at the intersection of the esophagus and the left main bronchus, about 27.5 cm from the central incisor.

The fourth stenosis is located at the mesial line of the esophagus, about 40 cm from the central incisor. The diaphragm fibers surrounding the esophagus are clinically called the lower esophageal sphincter. It is important to understand the above data if the device is clinically inserted into the stomach through the esophagus. The abdomen of the esophagus is short, from the diaphragm to the gastric cardia. The role of the esophagus is to transport food from the pharynx to the stomach.

esophagus:

When passing through the neck and mediastinum, that is, the middle of the thorax, it will bend with the curvature of the spine.

Pass through an oval esophageal hiatus located on the right foot of the diaphragm. This hiatus is located just to the left of the median plane of the 10th thoracic spine.

Its distal end is continuous with the gastric cardia on the left side of the left 7th costal cartilage and the 11th thoracic spine.

Surrounded by the esophageal plexus.

The abdomen of the esophagus is a posterior peritoneal organ, but its anterior wall and outer wall are covered with peritoneum.

Esophageal esophagus and its adjacent structures

The esophagus descends behind the trachea, enters the abdominal cavity through the esophageal hiatus, and the cross section of the esophagus shows the muscular layer and microstructure of the wall of the esophagus. The coronal section of the esophagus, sacrum, and stomach (upper part) shows that the esophagus ligament connects the esophagus to the palate. Ligaments allow the esophagus to move with swallowing and breathing, but restricts excessive upward movement of the esophagus

The esophagus has two layers of inner and outer muscles. The upper 1/3 is composed of skeletal muscle, the lower 1/3 is composed of smooth muscle, and the middle 1/3 is composed of a mixture of skeletal and smooth muscle.

Due to the peristalsis of the esophageal muscles, food can quickly pass through the esophagus. The esophagus is attached to the edge of the esophageal hiatus through the esophageal ligament. The esophageal ligament is a continuation of the sub-fascia fascia, which allows the and esophagus to move independently during breathing and swallowing.

The abdomen of the esophagus is short, tubular, about 1.25 cm long, and continues to the stomach through a right lame esophageal hiatus. The right edge of the esophagus continues from the small curvature of the stomach, while its left edge is separated from the bottom of the stomach by a cardiac notch. The junction of the esophagus and the stomach is located on the left side of the 11th thoracic vertebra passing through the plane of the xiphoid process. Surgeons and endoscopy specialists often use the Z-line (ie, the Z-shaped line at the gastric mucosa) as the boundary between the esophagus and the stomach. Here, the diaphragm creates a esophageal hiatus that contracts and relaxes like the esophageal sphincter. Radiological studies have shown that food stays intermittently here, and this sphincter prevents gastric contents from flowing back into the esophagus.