Large hypopharyngeal polyp producing intermittent dysphagia and acute airway obstruction

A 65-yr-old man who developed sudden respiratory arrest was found to have a long, smooth, esophageal filling defect on esophagogram. Endoscopy eventually proved this to be a large esophageal polypoid lesion that had arisen in the hypopharynx and extended to the midesophagus. He was successfully treated with a lateral pharyngotomy and excision of the hypopharyngeal polyp.