Abstract

BACKGROUND: Benign esophageal tumors are considered rare, and most commonly are leiomyomas with the incidence of 0.005%. They arise intramurally in the distal two-thirds of the esophagus and are multiple in about 5% of patients. Leiomyoma lesions can mimic esophageal cancer making the diagnosis more challenging. Many cases are asymptomatic, up to 15%-50%, and most cases are discovered incidentally during esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD) and other procedures. The treatment of choice for symptomatic leiomyomas to relieve the compression is surgical enucleation with either an open thoracotomy, submucosal tunneling endoscopic resection, a video-assisted thoracoscopic approach (VATS), or with robotic techniques.

CASE REPORT: Here we report a case of a 53-year-old Saudi female patient who presented with dysphagia which had been ongoing for a long time. There were no other associated symptoms such as dyspepsia, nausea, or vomiting. She was diagnosed with a calcified leiomyoma of the esophagus based on a computed tomography (CT) scan and an endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) finding. After thorough investigations and workups, the management plan was taken at King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre by preforming a right video-assisted thoracoscopic enucleation.

CONCLUSIONS: The aim of this case report was to add to the literature by reporting the satisfactory outcomes of right video-assisted enucleation contrary to other surgical approaches that have been discussed in the literature.

Keywords: Esophageal Neoplasms, Leiomyoma, Thoracic Surgery, Thoracic Surgery, Video-Assisted, Calcinosis, Middle Aged, Tomography, X-Ray Computed