Esophagus

The esophagus ( gr οἰσοφάγος oisophagos, Latinized esophagus, Germanized also esophagus, intestines outdated mouthful ) is a part of the digestive tract and is used to transport the food from the pharynx to the stomach.

Anatomy

The esophagus of an adult human is about 25 cm long. In its upper portion, the esophagus is located behind the front of the trachea and the spine.

The esophagus is divided according to its course into three sections:

It has three physiological bottlenecks:

The closure of the lower 2-5 cm of the esophagus caused by the following components:

This vein cushion is part of the portocaval venous system and can thus swell the case of liver cirrhosis and sometimes lead to some massive hemorrhage, the so-called Ösophagusvarizenblutungen.

According to the general structure of the digestive tract is the esophagus inside of a folded mucous membrane ( mucosa) lining the microscopic from an epithelial layer ( epithelial layer mucosae), an epithelial muscle layer ( muscularis mucosae) and an intermediate layer of connective tissue (lamina propria ) is. The middle wall portion is composed of a muscular tube ( Tela muscularis ), the muscle fibers run along the outside and the inside cross-. Between the mucosa and the muscular wall of a connective tissue pad ( submucosa ). Outside the esophagus is surrounded by an adventitia, the lower part from the passage through the diaphragm of the serosa.

Swallowing

The act of swallowing has been initiated by the voluntary muscles of the floor of the mouth. Then the food while reflex airway is - that prevents the aspiration of food, that is the crossing of the same into the trachea - transported through the involuntary activity of the pharyngeal muscles in the esophagus on.

In the esophagus the food morsel is guided by coordinated contractions ( peristalsis) of its longitudinal muscles for further processing in the stomach.

The act of swallowing is divided into three phases: oral phase, pharyngeal phase and oesophageal phase.

Diseases of the Esophagus

Achalasia, reflux disease ( gastroesophageal reflux disease ), other oesophagitis, Killian - Jamieson diverticulum, esophageal cancer, Mallory- Weiss syndrome, Boerhaave syndrome, Barrett 's esophagus, esophageal atresia, megaesophagus.

The Zenker 's diverticulum is a disorder of the hypopharynx (bottom part revenge ), not the esophagus, as is often claimed wrong.