Isolated oesophageal involvement of Crohn's disease.

A 31-year-old male was admitted with complaints of dysphagia and odynophagia. An upper gastrointestinal tract series revealed inflammatory changes in the mid and distal oesophagus with intramural extravasation of the barium. An upper endoscopy showed multiple ulcerations and inflammation. The patient developed a large stricture with no response to serial endoscopic dilations and a surgical resection of the oesophagus was required. Gross examination of the surgical specimen revealed transmural inflammation, deep ulcerations and non-necrotizing epithelioid cell granuloma. All these pathological findings were characteristic of Crohn's disease of the oesophagus. After 36 months of follow-up there has been no recurrence of symptoms or of other sites of involvement.