[Cricopharyngeal myotomy in upper esophageal sphincter dysfunction].

Upper esophageal sphincter dysfunction is a diseases of a altered esophageal motility characterized by muscular functional obstruction with cervical dysphagia as the main clinical manifestation. It is complicated sometimes by incidental aspiration. Pulmonary infection and even choking. The cricopharyngeal anatomically acts as the upper esophageal sphincter Uncoordinated contraction between cricopharyngeal and pharyngeal muscle could be one of the mechanisms for the development of cervical dysphagia. Cricopharyngeal myotomy has been used to treat functional disorder of the upper esophagus. The rationale for such procedure is to relieve functional obstruction by producing a wide "Opening door" for the upper esophagus. This paper presents 5 cases suffering from severe dysphagia treated with above mentioned procedure. The result is satisfactory that all patients became symptom. Free another female patient who did not undergo the operation has died of sudden choking. Authors concluded that cricopharyngeal myotomy is a simple but effective procedure for treating upper esophageal sphincter dysfunction.