Esophagus

During swallowing, the epiglottis tilts backwards to prevent food from going down the larynx and lungs.

During swallowing, it closes to prevent aspiration of food into the lungs, forcing the swallowed liquids or food to go along the esophagus toward the stomach instead.

During swallowing, the epiglottis tilts backwards to prevent food from going down the larynx and lungs.

It is situated just below where the tract of the pharynx splits into the trachea and the esophagus.

The esophagus (American English) or oesophagus (British English; see spelling differences), commonly known as the food pipe or gullet, is an organ in vertebrates through which food passes, aided by peristaltic contractions, from the pharynx to the stomach.

In much of a digestive tract such as the human gastrointestinal tract, smooth muscle tissue contracts in sequence to produce a peristaltic wave, which propels a ball of food (called a bolus while in the esophagus and upper gastrointestinal tract and chyme in the stomach) along the tract.

The esophagus (American English) or oesophagus (British English; see spelling differences), commonly known as the food pipe or gullet, is an organ in vertebrates through which food passes, aided by peristaltic contractions, from the pharynx to the stomach.

It begins at the back of the mouth, passing downwards through the rear part of the mediastinum, through the diaphragm, and into the stomach.

The mediastinum contains the heart and its vessels, the esophagus, the trachea, the phrenic and cardiac nerves, the thoracic duct, the thymus and the lymph nodes of the central chest.

The esophagus (American English) or oesophagus (British English; see spelling differences), commonly known as the food pipe or gullet, is an organ in vertebrates through which food passes, aided by peristaltic contractions, from the pharynx to the stomach. The esophagus is a fibromuscular tube, about 25 centimeters long in adults, which travels behind the trachea and heart, passes through the diaphragm and empties into the uppermost region of the stomach.

In humans and many other animals, the stomach is located between the oesophagus and the small intestine.

The esophagus (American English) or oesophagus (British English; see spelling differences), commonly known as the food pipe or gullet, is an organ in vertebrates through which food passes, aided by peristaltic contractions, from the pharynx to the stomach.

Examples (with non-American letter in bold): aeon, anaemia, anaesthesia, caecum, caesium, coeliac, diarrhoea, encyclopaedia, faeces, foetal, gynaecology, haemoglobin, haemophilia, leukaemia, oesophagus, oestrogen, orthopaedic, palaeontology, paediatric, paedophile.

The esophagus may be affected by gastric reflux, cancer, prominent dilated blood vessels called varices that can bleed heavily, tears, constrictions, and disorders of motility.

Mallory–Weiss syndrome or gastro-esophageal laceration syndrome refers to bleeding from a laceration in the mucosa at the junction of the stomach and esophagus.

It begins at the back of the mouth, passing downwards through the rear part of the mediastinum, through the diaphragm, and into the stomach. The esophagus is a fibromuscular tube, about 25 centimeters long in adults, which travels behind the trachea and heart, passes through the diaphragm and empties into the uppermost region of the stomach.

There are three large openings—the aortic, the esophageal, and the caval opening—plus a series of smaller ones.

Diseases may cause difficulty swallowing (dysphagia), painful swallowing (odynophagia), chest pain, or cause no symptoms at all.

In achalasia, there is idiopathic destruction of parasympathetic ganglia of the Auerbach's (Myenteric) plexus of the entire esophagus, which results in functional narrowing of the lower esophagus, and peristaltic failure throughout its length.

The esophagus is a fibromuscular tube, about 25 centimeters long in adults, which travels behind the trachea and heart, passes through the diaphragm and empties into the uppermost region of the stomach.

Behind the trachea, along its length, sits the oesophagus, followed by connective tissue and the vertebral column.

Its smooth muscle is innervated by involuntary nerves (sympathetic nerves via the sympathetic trunk and parasympathetic nerves via the vagus nerve) and in addition voluntary nerves (lower motor neurons) which are carried in the vagus nerve to innervate its striated muscle.

From the left vagus nerve the recurrent laryngeal nerve hooks around the aorta to travel back up to the larynx and proximal esophagus while, from the right vagus nerve, the recurrent laryngeal nerve hooks around the right subclavian artery to travel back up to the same location as its counterpart.

Clinical investigations include X-rays when swallowing barium, endoscopy, and CT scans.

There are taste buds on its upper part.

The taste receptors are located around the small structures known as papillae found on the upper surface of the tongue, soft palate, upper esophagus, the cheek, and epiglottis.

It has two muscular rings or sphincters in its wall, one at the top and one at the bottom.

The esophagus (American English) or oesophagus (British English; see spelling differences), commonly known as the food pipe or gullet, is an organ in vertebrates through which food passes, aided by peristaltic contractions, from the pharynx to the stomach.

The pharynx (plural: pharynges) is the part of the throat behind the mouth and nasal cavity, and above the esophagus and larynx – the tubes going down to the stomach and the lungs.

The esophagus may be affected by gastric reflux, cancer, prominent dilated blood vessels called varices that can bleed heavily, tears, constrictions, and disorders of motility. Dysfunction of the gastroesophageal sphincter causes gastroesophageal reflux, which causes heartburn and if it happens often enough, can lead to gastroesophageal reflux disease, with damage of the esophageal mucosa.

Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), also known as acid reflux, is a long-term condition in which stomach contents rise up into the esophagus, resulting in either symptoms or complications.

This is similar to the lymphatic drainage of the abdominal structures that arise from the foregut, which all drain into the celiac nodes.

Starting at the stomodeum, a rapid expansion of the primitive gut forms the esophagus, from which the respiratory bud branches off.

The wall of the esophagus from the lumen outwards consists of mucosa, submucosa (connective tissue), layers of muscle fibers between layers of fibrous tissue, and an outer layer of connective tissue.

The upper parts of the esophagus and the upper esophageal sphincter receive blood from the inferior thyroid artery, the parts of the esophagus in the thorax from the bronchial arteries and branches directly from the thoracic aorta, and the lower parts of the esophagus and the lower esophageal sphincter receive blood from the left gastric artery and the left inferior phrenic artery.

Branches also supply the lower esophagus.

Dysfunction of the gastroesophageal sphincter causes gastroesophageal reflux, which causes heartburn and if it happens often enough, can lead to gastroesophageal reflux disease, with damage of the esophageal mucosa.

Heartburn is usually due to regurgitation of gastric acid (gastric reflux) into the esophagus and is the major symptom of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD).

In human anatomy, the esophageal hiatus is an opening in the diaphragm through which the esophagus and the vagus nerve pass.

Diseases may cause difficulty swallowing (dysphagia), painful swallowing (odynophagia), chest pain, or cause no symptoms at all.

From the bifurcation of the trachea downwards, the esophagus passes behind the right pulmonary artery, left main bronchus, and left atrium.

It passes beneath the aortic arch, crosses in front of the esophagus, the thoracic duct, and the descending aorta, and has the left pulmonary artery lying at first above, and then in front of it.

The upper and middle parts of the esophagus drain into the azygos and hemiazygos veins, and blood from the lower part drains into the left gastric vein.

The left gastric vein (or coronary vein) is a vein carrying deoxygenated blood that derives from tributaries draining both surfaces of the stomach; it runs from right to left along the lesser curvature of the stomach, between the two layers of the lesser omentum, to the esophageal opening of the stomach, where it receives some esophageal veins.