Plummer Vinson Syndrome

A series of 24 consecutive cases of Plummer Vinson syndrome seen in the course of eight years is reported. The radiographic abnormalities detectable in the lower pharynx and upper oesophagus are not limited to the well recognised web constriction, but a segmental zone of constriction is also recognised below this, the constriction extending for about half an inch and being often demarcated from the normal upper oesophagus by a second web. One patient in this series developed a post-cricoid carcinoma during the period of observation. Another, the only male in the series, developed a carcinoma in the middle third of the oesophagus.