Multifocal malignant melanoma of the esophagus

We have described a case of primary melanoma of the esophagus in an asymptomatic patient. The tumor presented as a multinodular filling defect on a routine barium swallow. The distal esophagus and a proximal portion of the stomach were resected. The patient died ten days postoperatively of Klebsiella sepsis. Grossly, the surgical specimen showed multiple polypoid tumors which arose from separate pigmented areas shown microscopically to be melanoma in situ. By electron microscopy, the tumor cells contained numerous melanosomes in various stages of melanization. Primitive hemidesmosomes were found where a basal lamina was present. Better developed desmosomes interconnected the melanocytes.