Upper gastrointestinal bleeding caused by a "hypophrenic" diverticulum of the distal esophagus

Distal esophageal diverticula are uncommon acquired anomalies of the distal thoracic esophagus. We report a case of an elderly man presenting with a history of upper gastrointestinal bleeding secondary to a distal esophageal diverticulum arising from the intra-abdominal portion of the esophagus. To our knowledge, this is the first report of upper gastrointestinal bleeding from a subdiaphragmatic esophageal diverticulum. We propose the term "hypophrenic diverticulum of the esophagus" for this disease entity, and we would like to bring it to the attention of readers of The American Surgeon.