"Black Esophagus" or Gurvits Syndrome: A Rare Complication of Diabetic
Ketoacidosis
#MMPMID28357144
Choksi V
; Dave K
; Cantave R
; Shaharyar S
; Joseph J
; Shankar U
; Kaplan S
; Feiz H
Case Rep Gastrointest Med
2017[]; 2017
(?): 4815752
PMID28357144
show ga
Acute esophageal necrosis (AEN) also known as "black esophagus" or necrotizing
esophagitis is a rare syndrome characterized by a striking diffuse patchy or
circumferential black appearance of the esophageal mucosa that preferentially
affects the distal esophagus and terminates at the gastroesophageal junction.
Only 88 patients over a span of 40 years have received this diagnosis, and the
prevalence of this disease ranges from 0.001 to 0.2% of cases in literature. It
more commonly affects men (4?:?1 ratio) in the sixth decade of life. It is
associated with a high mortality rate, approaching 32%. We report a case of AEN
presenting in the setting of diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA), affecting both the
proximal and distal esophagus.