Esophageal mucosal lesions

The esophagus is an important organ in the human body and is also a site that is prone to various lesions. For example, many people have esophageal mucosal lesions, which may indicate that the patient has diseases such as acute corrosive esophagitis, suppurative esophagitis, or esophageal cancer. These diseases are relatively dangerous, and patients must seek medical attention in a timely manner and receive appropriate treatment under the guidance of a doctor.

1. Acute corrosive esophagitis

Corrosive esophagitis often occurs as an accident and is prone to occur in children. In particular, various household cleaners have entered many households and are easily ingested by children. These products contain sodium hydroxide (potassium), sodium carbonate (potassium), potassium permanganate, etc. Corrosive esophagitis in adults is often caused by swallowing strong acids or alkalis as a means of suicide. It is not uncommon for strong acids and alkalis to be accidentally ingested by people when they are stored in containers used for beverages or alcohol. Drug-induced esophagitis has received clinical attention in recent years. It is now recognized that patients of all ages, in all settings, and taking all therapeutic doses of medications have the potential to injure the esophagus.

2. Suppurative esophagitis

Purulent esophagitis is a purulent inflammation caused by bacteria invading the esophageal mucosa when the esophageal mucosa is damaged. Patients may be asymptomatic or have only neck pain or sore throat. Patients with a larger lesion area may also experience symptoms such as dysphagia, pain behind the sternum, chills, and fever in addition to neck pain or odynophagia. Those with higher reactivity often have high fever. A small number of patients may develop sepsis and show corresponding symptoms.

3. Esophageal cancer

Esophageal cancer is a common digestive tract tumor, and approximately 300,000 people die from it every year worldwide. Its incidence and mortality rates vary greatly among countries. my country is one of the areas in the world with a high incidence of esophageal cancer, with an average of about 150,000 deaths from the disease each year. Males are more likely to be affected than females, and the age of onset is mostly over 40 years old. The typical symptom of esophageal cancer is progressive dysphagia, which starts with difficulty swallowing dry food, then semi-liquid food, and finally water and saliva.

The population distribution of esophageal cancer is related to age, gender, occupation, race, region, living environment, dietary habits, and genetic susceptibility. Existing survey data show that esophageal cancer may be a disease caused by multiple factors.