Progressive Dysphagia and Weight Loss in an African American Woman
December 31st 2006Over the past 6 months, a 76-year-old African American woman has had increasingdifficulty in swallowing solid food and has lost 40 lb. She can now tolerateonly liquids and foods with a pudding-like consistency. Ingestion of moresolid food produces the sensation that it is “sticking in her chest,” and shesubsequently regurgitates it undigested. She denies heartburn, reflux, nausea,hematemesis, abdominal pain, and melena.