[Endoscopic therapy of esophageal diseases]

The esophagus is one of the areas of the gastrointestinal tract, for which therapeutic concepts have changed the most over the last two decades. The most decisive advance is the development of endoscopic resection techniques for early esophageal carcinomas. These methods provide excellent short- and long-term results combined with very low morbidity and negligible mortality rates in comparison with surgical esophagectomy, especially in case of mucosal Barrett's adenocarcinoma. In addition, the endoscopic myotomy techniques in Zenker's diverticulum and spastic achalasia are new, attractive endoscopic treatment modalities.