234 



Narrowing of the Esophagus, 



Prognosis. This is usually unfavorable, joarticularly in 

 cicatricial strictures or in stenosis caused by neoplasms, since 

 their treatment is entirely impossible or coupled with unsur- 

 mountable difficulties. In* long standing stenosis, the nutrition 



of the animal is more 

 and more disturbed, 

 and if the animals are 

 not slaughtered they 

 perish from inani- 

 tion, or the wall of 

 the esophagus rup- 

 tures at the dilation, 

 anteriorly to the sten- 

 osis. Tliis again leads 

 to ichorous inflamma- 

 tion of the connective 

 tissue or to pleuritis. 

 (Such a course has 

 been observed by Se- 

 quens in a case of 

 esophageal stenosis 

 due to a spiroptera 

 t u m r.) Aspiration 

 pneumonia is a fre- 

 quent and dangerous 

 complication and may 

 arise at every stage 

 of the disease. 



Treatment. If sten- 

 osis in the cervical 

 portion is due to a 

 pediculated or an en- 

 capsulated neoplasm 

 of the esophagus, op- 

 erative interference 

 may eventually bring 

 about recovery. A ci- 

 catricial stricture 

 may be amenable to 

 gradual dilatation by 

 increasingly larger 

 sounds (elastic rods, 

 handles of whips, 

 moistened ropes, ca- 



Fig. 



Introduction of the esophageal sound 

 in cattle. 



theters). This procedure can, however, rarely be carried out in 

 veterinary practice since it requires a long continued course of 

 treatment. If the animals are for some reason or other to be 

 kept alive, one must attempt to retard the course of the disease 

 by feeding soft and fluid nourishment. 



