Acute (gangrenous) esophageal necrosis (black esophagus). A rare form of injury with specific histologic features and diverse clinical associations with a common pathogenesis

Acute Esophageal Necrosis or Black Esophagus in the Setting of Diabetic Ketoacidosis

Acute esophageal necrosis (AEN) or black esophagus is a rare cause of mortality in patients with gastrointestinal bleeding. We present a case of a 54-year-old female who presented with diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) and developed melena eventually attributed to AEN. The esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD) identified severe inflammation with black discoloration consistent with acute esophageal necrosis in the middle and lower esophagus. The patient was managed with intravenous pantoprazole and total parenteral nutrition (TPN) until she was able to tolerate an adequate diet. Black esophagus should be added to the differential diagnosis of patients with DKA who develop gastrointestinal bleeding. This need is stressed by the fact that early treatment is essential to reducing complications and mortality associated with the condition.

Sudden Esophageal Necrosis and Mediastinitis Associated with Invasive Candidiasis: A Case Report

BACKGROUND Esophageal necrosis is a rare entity characterized by the presence of extensive circumferential necrosis of the esophagus. It generally affects older adults who have associated chronic pathologies and has a reported mortality rate of approximately 32%. Most patients with esophageal necrosis have a complex clinical course. CASE REPORT We present the case of a 37-year-old man with idiopathic chronic renal failure who presented to the Emergency Department with sudden esophageal necrosis and mediastinitis, associated with invasive candidiasis. Diagnosis was challenging owing to the rarity of the condition. The patient required intensive care management and multiple surgical procedures. CONCLUSIONS Esophageal necrosis is an uncommon pathology that can be fatal because of associated complications. Its pathophysiology is unclear, and its treatment is based on the control of local injury and signs and symptoms. Acute esophageal necrosis associated with invasive Candida sp. infection is even more infrequent, with only a few cases reported in the literature.

Colorectal Cancer, Gut Microbiota and Traditional Chinese Medicine: A Systematic Review

Based on the study and research on the pathogenesis of colorectal cancer, the types and functions of gut microbiota, and its role in guiding and regulating the occurrence and development of diseases, we have explored the mechanism of traditional Chinese medicine in the treatment of colorectal cancer by regulating the gut microbiota. Genetic variation, abnormal responses of innate and adaptive immunity, mucosal barrier dysfunction, imbalance of intestinal microbial colonization, personal and environmental risk factors are the main pathogenesis of colorectal cancer. The gut microbiota mainly includes Sclerotium (including Clostridium, Enterococcus, Lactobacillus and Ruminococcus) and Bacteroides (including Bacteroides and Prevotella), which have biological antagonism, nutrition for the organism, metabolic abilities, immune stimulation, and ability to shape cancer genes functions to body. The gut microbiota can be related to the health of the host. Current studies have shown that Chinese herbal compound, single medicinal materials, and monomer components can treat colorectal cancer by regulating the gut microbiota, such as Xiaoyaosan can increase the abundance of Bacteroides, Lactobacillus, and Proteus and decrease the abundance of Desulfovibrio and Rickerella. Therefore, studying the regulation and mechanism of gut microbiota on colorectal cancer is of great benefit to disease treatment.

Black esophagus as an autopsy discovery: a challenging interpretation

Black esophagus is a rare medical condition, characterized by a circumferential blackish discoloration of the distal part of the esophageal mucosa, abruptly ending at the gastroesophageal junction. The etiology is multifactorial since patients suffer from multiple comorbidities. While the mortality rate specifically linked to black esophagus is only around 6%, the mortality rate linked to the underlying comorbidities amounts to 32%.

A series of five cases is provided in which black esophagus was an unexpected discovery at autopsy. Black esophagus is generally considered being a challenge to the forensic pathologist. There are often no other major gross anomalies found at autopsy and information about the patient’s medical history is not always available, which complicates a correct assessment.

We present a review of the literature on black esophagus, limited to reports on deceased patients. The reviewed publications are divided into autopsy and endoscopy series to correctly compare the causes of death.

The aim of this review is to identify a possible divergence in causes of death in autopsy and endoscopy series and additionally to analyze the causes of these differences to enable better assessment and interpretation of black esophagus at forensic autopsies. This paper emphasizes the importance of a minimal knowledge of the victim’s comorbidities and medical record and the use of toxicology and postmortem biochemistry analysis as a valuable tool in investigating the cause of death in the setting of black esophagus.

Non gastro-esophageal reflux disease related esophagitis: an overview with a histologic diagnostic approach

Several pathological conditions, other than gastro-esophageal reflux disease and its complications, can affect the esophagus. While some of these can present with unspecific lesions (i.e. ulcers and epithelial damage) and require clinico-pathological correlation for diagnosis (i.e. drug-induced esophagitis and corrosive esophagitis) other conditions show distinctive histological lesions which enable the pathologist to reach the diagnosis (i.e. some specific infectious esophagites and Crohn's disease). In this context eosinophilic esophagitis is the condition which has been increasingly studied in the last two decades, while lymphocytic esophagitis, a relatively new entity, still represents an enigma. This overview will focus on and describe histologic lesions which allow pathologists to differentiate between these conditions.

Acute Esophageal Necrosis in a Patient With Prostate Cancer Postchemotherapy

Acute esophageal necrosis (AEN) describes a potentially irreversible injury to esophageal mucosa secondary to vascular hypoperfusion. An 84-year-old man was admitted for the correction of a displaced nephrostomy tube and management of acute kidney injury. During his stay, the patient developed odynophagia and acute gastrointestinal hemorrhage. Despite mild initial symptoms, diffuse circumferential black esophageal mucosa was visualized on endoscopy, and a diagnosis of AEN was made. This unique case highlights the association between AEN and leukopenia, vascular disease, hypercoagulability, and infection. Presentations such as this patient should prompt the physicians' consideration of this differential earlier.

Diagnosis and management of acute esophageal necrosis

Acute esophageal necrosis is a rare syndrome classically characterized by a striking endoscopic image of diffuse and circumferential black mucosal discoloration of distal esophagus, with an abrupt transition at the gastroesophageal junction and variable proximal extension. The typical patient is an older male with general debilitation and multiple comorbidities presenting with hematemesis or melena. The pathophysiology usually involves a combination of esophageal ischemia, backflow injury from gastric chemical contents and impaired mucosal reparative mechanisms associated with debilitated physical states. It may arise in the setting of hemodynamic compromise, diabetic ketoacidosis, hypothermia, alcoholic intoxication, trauma, inflammatory diseases, esophageal local infection, solid organ transplantation, postoperative status, drugs or acute gastric outlet obstruction, usually in the background of a chronic debilitating process, where the concurrent presence of multiple risk factors, including diabetes mellitus, hypertension, malnutrition, malignancy or alcohol abuse, places a patient at higher risk. The characteristic endoscopic appearance establishes the diagnosis. Biopsy is supportive but not required. Management is mainly supportive and consists of correcting coexisting conditions, fluid therapy, bowel rest, intravenous proton pump inhibitor therapy and red blood cell transfusion as needed. Although this is a serious life-threatening condition, appropriate treatment may result in a favorable outcome in the majority of patients.

Evaluation of prognostic factor and nature of acute esophageal necrosis: Restropective multicenter study

Acute esophageal necrosis (AEN) is a serious disease which can causes gastrointestinal bleeding and death. Although black color change is not essential factor of organ necrosis, AEN is also known as "black esophagus." Because of its rarity, there are limited studies regarding risk factors of mortality and recurrence. Thus, we conducted a multicenter retrospective study in order to evaluate the clinical characteristics of AEN. Method Clinical datum of AEN patients from 7 tertiary hospitals located in Daejeon-Choongcheong province were evaluated based on medical records. Our primary endpoint was risk factors for mortality and the secondary endpoint was risk factors for recurrence and clarifying whether "black esophagus" is a right terminology.Fourty one patients were enrolled. Thirty six patients were male, mean age was 69.5 years. Nine patients had died, and 4 patients showed recurrence. Sepsis and white color change in endoscopy were related to high mortality (Chi-Squared test, P < .05). Old age, high pulse rate, low hemoglobin, and low albumin were also related to high mortality. Unexpectedly, heavy drinking showed favorable a mortality. Septic condition and high pulse rate showed poor mortality in logistic regression test (P < .05). Coexisting duodenal ulcer was related to recurrence (Chi-Squared test, P < .05). There was no difference in the underlying condition except patients with a coexisting cancer and white-form displayed lower hemoglobin level. Conclusion: Our results imply that white color change, septic condition, high pulse rate, and low hemoglobin & albumin are poor prognostic factors in AEN. Further evaluation may help clarify the findings of our study.

Occurrence of Acute Oesophageal Necrosis (Black Oesophagus) in a Single Tertiary Centre

Acute oesophageal necrosis (AON) is a rare condition characterised by the endoscopic finding of diffuse, circumferential, black mucosal pigmentation of the oesophagus, which typically stops at the gastro-oesophageal junction. This observational study aimed to assess the occurrence, clinical characteristics and outcomes of AON in a consecutive endoscopic cohort in a single tertiary university centre. A retrospective analysis of endoscopic data of upper gastrointestinal endoscopy (UGE) was carried out from 2008 to 2018. Out of 25,970 UGE, 16 patients (0.06%) had AON; 75.0% were men with a median age of 75 years. Almost all patients underwent diagnosis during emergency UGE performed for gastrointestinal bleeding, but one patient was diagnosed during elective UGE for persistent vomiting and diarrhoea. All patients reported one or more pre-existing comorbidities and concomitant acute events. Two patients had AON as the first presentation of Zollinger-Ellison syndrome (ZES). One patient developed an oesophageal stenosis, and another patient presented a relapse of AON. Mortality was 50%, but no patient died as a direct consequence of AON. AON is a rare cause of gastrointestinal bleeding diagnosed mainly during emergency UGE. Our study showed that ZES might manifest with this critical presentation, and endoscopists must be aware of this evidence.

Clinical presentations, management, and outcomes of acute esophageal necrosis: a systemic review

BACKGROUND

To review all the reported literature on acute esophageal necrosis.

RESEARCH METHODS

Databases were searched using the special Medical Subject Heading (MeSH) terms. All the available reported cases of acute esophageal necrosis were analyzed.

RESULTS

A total of 154 cases were identified and 130 cases were analyzed. The mean age of presentation was 61 years, and 70% of cases were males. The most common presenting symptoms were hematemesis in 66%, shock in 36%, melena in 33%, abdominal or substernal pain in 28%. The most common comorbidities reported were diabetes in 38%, hypertension in 37%, alcohol abuse in 25%, and chronic kidney disease in 16%. On upper endoscopy, 51% had a distal disease, 36% had pan esophageal, and only 2% had a proximal disease. 84% of patients were treated with IV Proton Pump Inhibitors, 22% received transfusions, 23% got antibiotics for underlying sepsis, 14% also received sucralfate, and 4% required surgery for treatment. The mortality rate was 32%, while perforation was reported in 5% and stricture formation reported in 9% of patients.

CONCLUSIONS

Patients with acute esophageal necrosis can have a favorable outcome if treated appropriately.