Esophageal stricture in Crohn's disease--a case report

We treated a 46-year-old Japanese man with Crohn's disease of the esophagus and for whom medical therapy was adequate. Crohn's disease of the esophagus is a rare disease without specific clinical features and establishment of the diagnosis with guided biopsy is extremely difficult. Therefore, Crohn's disease of the esophagus should be considered in the differential diagnosis of biopsy-negative carcinoma of the esophagus in order to avoid major surgery. Treatment of Crohn's disease of the esophagus should primarily be medical and esophagectomy should only be considered in cases of complications, intractability or a suspicion of malignancy in the biopsied specimen.