Esophageal Diverticulum

THIS report is derived from a background of 437 cases of esophageal diverticula, from 1925 to January, 1960. Of this number 425 were pharyngoesophageal, and 12 were supradiaphragmatic diverticula. Over the years a series of articles from this clinic has strongly championed two-stage excision of this lesion. As shown below, the mortality has been so low (0.45 per cent) that it was exceedingly difficult for us to persuade ourselves to abandon this two-stage operation. Recently, however, it has seemed wise for several reasons to join the trend toward one-stage removal. The reason for this lies only partly in recent advances . . .