Oesophagitis.
DEFINITION.—Inflammation of the oesophagus.
SYNONYMS.—Inflammatory dysphagia, Inflammation of the gullet.
Oesophagitis may be acute or chronic. Either form may be idiopathic, deuteropathic, or traumatic.
Acute Oesophagitis.
DEFINITION.—Acute inflammation of the gullet.
SYNONYM.—Oesophagitis acuta.
HISTORY.—Until the publication in 1829 of a thesis by J. T. Mondière entitled Recherches sur l'Inflammation de l'Oesophage, et sur quelques points de l'anatomie pathologique de cet organ, little study had been devoted to acute inflammation of the oesophagus; and since that time Mondière's researches have been largely utilized by subsequent writers. It has been taken for granted that Galen's mention of pain in the oesophagus1 has indicated his recognition of the disease. Fernel2 mentions phlegmon of the oesophagus; Honkoop3 describes inflammation of the oesophagus; J. P. Frank4 describes an oesophageal angina; and Joseph Frank5 seems to have been the first author to use the term oesophagitis. Since the publication of Mondière's monograph the principal systematic descriptions have been those of Hamburger6 Von Oppolzer7 Zenker and Ziemssen8 Luton,9 and Bernheim.10
1 De locis affectis, lib. iv. cap. iii.; lib. v. cap. v.