Chondromatous hamartoma of cervical esophagus: a case report and literature review

Esophageal chondromatous hamartomas are very rare tumors, characterized by proliferating hyaline cartilage cells. We described the case of a 64-year-old woman, with a progressive foreign body sensation in the laryngopharynx caused by an intraluminal pedicled mass. Transcervical esophagectomy was performed and intraoperative biopsy revealed the mass was a cervical esophageal chondromatous hamartoma. The patient’s postoperative course was uneventful and she recovered well. A review of the literature was conducted, and the symptoms, locations, histopathology findings, treatment methods and follow up results of esophageal hamartoma cases were summarized. We found that pre-operative endoscopic ultrasonography-guided fine-needle aspiration (EUS-FNA) can aid in diagnosis and that aggressive surgical treatment should be recommended for cervical esophageal hamartomas.