Thermal Injury of the Esophagus

To the Editor: We report two cases in which the appearance of the esophageal mucosa and histologic abnormalities in the esophagus were indicative of reversible thermal injury. A 66-year-old man with a history of coronary artery disease presented to the emergency room for the second time in one month with retrosternal chest pain, mild dysphagia, and odynophagia. A 72-year-old woman presented with episodic melena of three weeks' duration associated with chest and epigastric discomfort. Both patients underwent initial and follow-up upper endoscopic studies along with multiple mucosal biopsies. Upper endoscopy in each patient showed bands of thin, white, pseudomembranous mucosa . . .