Esophageal duplication in children: a report of three cases evaluated by computed tomography

Primary tumors of the esophagus are extremely rare in children. A common periesophageal mass in children is duplication. It constitutes only 0.5 to 2.5% of all esophageal lesions usually diagnosed in infancy or early childhood. Duplication of the esophagus may be diagnosed on examination by the emergency department (ED) physician when it produces symptoms or when it is inadvertently found on a chest radiograph. The duplication may produce acute gastrointestinal symptoms such as vomiting and dysphagia or respiratory symptoms such as cough, wheezing, or dyspnea. Currently the examination of choice for evaluation of esophageal duplication is a barium swallow. However, computed tomography (CT) has the advantage over conventional diagnostic procedures, since it demonstrates the cystic nature of the mass and its relationship to adjacent structures in a noninvasive manner. An esophageal duplication has a well-marginated spherical mass contiguous with the esophagus, with preserved surrounding fat planes, and numbers of 15 to 30 Hausenfield units (HU) on CT. We are reporting three cases of this anomaly as demonstrated by CT.