Boerhaave's syndrome: lessons learned from 83 cases over three decades.

The authors describe their experience in the treatment of 83 Boerhaave patients. During the last few years the mortality of the disease has decreased. A successful treatment requires good treatment resources and experienced team work. The tailored open primary repair technique with fundic reinforcement, developed by the authors, is described in detail. This technique has decreased the amount of postoperative fistulation and esophageal resection. The mortality after stenting was 20%.