Giant Zenker's diverticulum with esophageal obstruction and severe aspiration pneumonia

Abstract

Pharyngoesophageal diverticulum, or Zenker's diverticulum (ZD), is a rare pathology. With small diverticula that do not cause inflammation in the esophagus, the patient may not have any complaints or may only have a slight cough. As food accumulates in the formed diverticulum, its size increases, which is often accompanied by inflammation of the esophageal wall, compression of nearby organs, development of aspiration pneumonia, and in some cases may lead to esophageal perforation or esophageal bleeding. These complications can be life-threatening, so early diagnosis of ZD is extremely important. The article describes a clinical case of an elderly man with a late diagnosis of pharyngoesophageal diverticulum, complicated by the development of aspiration pneumonia, cachexia, electrolyte disturbances and acute renal failure. The complexity of patient management and diagnosis was due to recurrent aspiration with the development of severe pneumonia and the complexity of endoscopic examination methods.

Keywords

• pharyngoesophageal diverticulum
• zenker's diverticulum
• esophageal obstruction
• aspiration pneumonia
• infectious esophagitis