Retrograde-antegrade rendezvous recanalization for complete cervical esophageal obstruction after chemoradiotherapy: a novel organ-preserving approach A 60-year-old woman had cT3N1M0 clinical Stage IIIb cervical esophageal cancer ( Fig. 1), desired larynx preservation, and opted for chemoradiotherapy (CRT).Before CRT, the patient presented with dysphagia, and because of an esophageal cancer-induced stricture, even a thin scope could not be passed.Therefore, gastrostomy was performed under CT guidance , followed by CRT with cisplatin and fluorouracil at a radiation dose of 60 Gy (30 fractions).While receiving nutritional support via a gastrostomy tube, the patient maintained minimal oral intake.Although complete remission was achieved with CRT, the patient could not receive oral intake.An attempt was made to insert an endoscope for endoscopic balloon dilation (EBD), but the esophageal entrance was completely obstructed by CRT-induced scarring ( Fig. 2).
Kono et al. (Wed,) studied this question.