DOI: 10.36347/sjmcr.2017.v05i10.024

Pages: 688-690

A 64-year-old male was found unconsciousness by a housemate. He had recently complained of dysphagia. When emergency medical technicians checked him, he was in a state of cardiopulmonary arrest. On arrival, he remained in cardiac arrest with asystole. Immediately after the stabilization of circulation, whole-body computed tomography revealed dilatation of the esophagus with a large amount of food and compression of the trachea pinched by saburra in the upper esophagus and sternum. He unfortunately did not regain consciousness and died on the third hospital day. An autopsy failed to show any significant anatomical stenosis in the esophagus. These findings suggested that cause of death in this case to be suffocation due to saburra in the upper esophagus as a result of achalasia. Physicians should pay special attention to the presence of food residue in the esophagus when a patient presents with suffocation in response to an amount of food normally deemed too small to induce fatal asphyxia and/or dysphagia.