Transverse esophageal folds: association with corrosive injury.

Two cases are presented in which transverse esophageal folds were observed in children following ingestion of corrosive material. Strictures developed at the sites that initially manifested this serrated mucosal appearance. These findings lend additional credence to the concept that transverse folds, reflecting contractions of the muscularis mucosae, represent a pattern of pathologic motility rather than merely a variant of normal mucosal anatomy.