Epidermoid carcinoma occurring in a pharyngoesophageal diverticulum

HE development of carcinoma in a pharyn-T geal or esophageal diverticulum is not a lrequent finding.Neither standard textbooks of pathologyls 10 nor monographs on diseases of the esophagus83 mention the possibility of carcinoma associated with such diverticula.Sparks, in 1933, first reported a case of carcinoma in a diverticulum of the pharynx.His patient had symptoms owing to the diverticulum for about thirty years.A large weight loss in the last months of life and an episode of hematemesis led to an esophagoscopic examination during which the diagnosis was made.But nine other examples of carcinoma in pharyngoesophageal diverticula29 3, 5-71 9, 12-14 and one in an epiphrenic diverticulum4 have been reported.The presence of a diverticulum and an independent carcinoma of the esophagus at a different site in the same patient also seems to be very rare.11 CASE REPORTThe patient, a white woman, 82 years of age, was first admitted to the Indiana University Medical Center on September 19, 1953, with the chief complaints of difficulty in swallowing, a mass in the neck that appeared after meals, and regurgitation of most of the ingested food.This mass had first been noticed twenty years before.A physician was consulted and roentgenogmms were taken.The diagnosis 01 diverticulum of the esophagus was made, but surgery was not advised because it was considered to be dangerous.Like many patients with a diverticulum of the cervical esophagus, the patient found that a certain position aided in emptying the pouch.She got along well until a few years ago when the mass began to enlarge after eating.The patient stated that during the last few months she had not been able to empty From the departments of Surgery