Complete esophageal obstruction from cricopharyngeal achalasia.

A patient with complete esophageal obstruction from cricopharyngeal achalasia in whom adequate cricopharyngeal myotomy failed to alleviate the dysphagia is described. The importance of pre-operative radiological evaluation of patients with neurologically related dysphagia is discussed, specifically, the degree of obstruction, range of tongue movement, and presence of aspiration. These factors have a predictive value in assessing the benefits of planned cricopharyngeal myotomy.