Cartilaginous esophageal ring: a cause of esophageal stenosis in infants and children

A cartilaginous ring associated with other tracheobronchial remnants is a rare cause of distal esophageal stenosis. Although the symptoms are nonspecific, a radiographic finding of linear intramural clefts projecting from the area of stenosis is distinctive. Pathological correlation has shown that these clefts represent communicating intramural cystic spaces lined by respiratory epithelium. Resistance to instrumental dilatation and the absence of inflammatory mucosal changes are characteristic endoscopic findings.