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Esophagus in X-ray image
Last reviewed: 06.07.2025
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To examine the esophagus, a method is used to fill it with a radiopaque mass (insoluble barium sulfate), which fills the lumen of the esophagus and produces a longitudinal shadow on the screen, clearly visible against the "enlightened" background of the pulmonary fields between the spinal column and the heart. In addition to the three narrowings indicated, the esophagus has a narrowing visible on radiographs at the point where it passes into the stomach.
Innervation of the esophagus: vagus nerves, thoracic aortic sympathetic plexus.
Blood supply: inferior thyroid artery, thoracic aorta, esophageal branch of the left gastric artery. Venous outflow: via the esophageal veins into the inferior thyroid vein, azygos and semizygos veins, left gastric vein.
Lymph drainage: from the cervical part of the esophagus - into the deep lateral lymph nodes of the neck, from the thoracic part - into the prevertebral, posterior mediastinal, and from the abdominal part - into the left gastric lymph nodes. Some of the lymphatic vessels of the esophagus bypass the lymph nodes, flowing directly into the thoracic duct.
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