Reflux can occur without hiatus hernia: misplacement of the cardia

Abstract

My interest in the surgery of the esophagus goes back to 1943, to a time when occupied France was almost unaware of the techniques of modern anesthesia. Thus it was that in 1944, 6 weeks before the liberation of Paris, my friend Jean Mathey and I succeeded in performing the first resection of a cancer of the thoracic esophagus followed by gastroesophageal anastomosis, under local and regional anesthesia! At that time, esophageal reflux was poorly understood. However, the chnical and radiologic features of hiatus hernia gradually took shape and this pathology was enthusiastically welcomed by surgeons.