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Abstract
The esophagus is a small hose-like tube, which connects the mouth to the stomach. As it leaves the mouth, it follows a straight path through the neck and chest, passing near the heart, through the diaphragm muscle and finally entering the stomach. The esophagus consists of two anatomically and physiologically distinct regions, namely a proximal striated muscle portion (cervical esophagus) and a distal smooth muscle portion (thoracic and abdominal esophagus). Diseases that affect these two regions are quite different (Patti et al., 2005).