A case of black esophagus with histopathologic description and characterization.
Title
A case of black esophagus with histopathologic description and characterization.
Creator
Altenburger Dana L; Wagner Aaron S; Li Shuan; Garavaglia Jan
Publisher
Archives of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine
Date
2011
2011-06
Description
Black esophagus, or acute necrotizing esophagitis, is a blackening of the esophagus that is usually distal with a sharp demarcation at the gastroesophageal border. Black esophagus is known to the gastroenterology community; however, to our knowledge it is virtually unknown in the pathology literature with only a single instance described in 1967. It is thought to occur as a poorly elucidated ischemic phenomenon. We report a case of black esophagus in a 45-year-old woman with a history of cocaine and alcohol abuse who was found unresponsive after a vague 2-day illness. On autopsy examination, the esophagus was black with ischemic necrosis of the mucosa, submucosa, and muscularis propria including a diffuse acute inflammatory infiltrate and brown pigmentation limited to the mucosa. Positive periodic acid-Schiff and negative iron stains suggest that the pigment is lipofuscin, likely secondary to ischemia.
Subject
Acute Disease; Esophagitis/complications/*diagnosis; Esophagus/blood supply/*pathology; Fatal Outcome; Female; Humans; Ischemia/complications/*pathology; Middle Aged; Necrosis; Substance-Related Disorders
Identifier
Rights
Article information provided for research and reference use only. All rights are retained by the journal listed under publisher and/or the creator(s).
Citation
Altenburger Dana L; Wagner Aaron S; Li Shuan; Garavaglia Jan, “A case of black esophagus with histopathologic description and characterization.,” NEOMED Bibliography Database, accessed May 29, 2023, https://neomed.omeka.net/items/show/4017.