Endoscopic cricopharyngeal myotomy in infants

Cricopharyngeal achalasia is a rare cause of dysphagia in young children. Conservative treatments involve medical therapy and serial dilations or injections. Definitive cure can be achieved with cricopharyngeal myotomy. We report two cases of young children, each less than one year of age, who underwent endoscopic laser-assisted cricopharyngeal myotomy. Following surgery, both infants were able to advance to age appropriate diets prior to discharge. Post-operative modified barium swallow demonstrated complete resolution of achalasia in both patients. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first case series of infants undergoing successful endoscopic cricopharyngeal myotomy.