This book embarks on a journey never taken before, approaching the imaging of the disease of achalasia with new pathophysiological assumptions in mind, coming from the Chicago Classification of Manometric diagnosis. Using state-of-the-art, modern x-ray technology, the authors have developed a schematic and simple approach to detection, diagnosis, and patient stadiation and prognostic stratification, for radiologists, clinicians, and students.
Key Features:
1. Serves as a useful guide to structured and comprehensive reporting of barium swallows, both in achalasia and other oesophageal motility disorders.
2. Allows radiologists, both specialists, and trainees, to comprehensively understand achalasia from anatomic, pathophysiologic, therapeutic points of view, allowing for exact comprehension, detection, and reporting of the radiologic hallmarks of the disease.
3. Empowers readers to diagnose and define the exact achalasia subtype in each patient, due to the specifically developed FBF score.
Preface
Acknowledgements
Foreword
Editor Biography
List of Contributors
List of Abbreviations
Introduction
1. Historic Overview of Achalasia
Giovanni Fontanella and Simona Borrelli
2. Evolution of Fluoroscopy and Barium Swallow
Simona Borrelli
3. Esophageal Anatomy and Physiology
Biondo Francesco Giuseppe, Russo Maurizio, Parente Emilio, Pacifico Fabio
4. Pathophysiology of Achalasia
Giuseppe Fuggi, Francesca Russo, and Rocco Granata
5. Clinical Overview of Achalasia
Giuseppe Fuggi, Francesca Russo, and Rocco Granata
6. Fluoroscopy and Dynamic Barium Swallow
Simona Borrelli
7. Image Interpretation and FBF Scoring System
Giovanni Fontanella, Co-authored by Simona Borrelli
8. Structured Reporting
Giovanni Fontanella
9. Pictorial Essay
Giovanni Fontanella
10. Conclusions
Giovanni Fontanella
Index
Biography
Giovanni Fontanella, MD FRSA, is an Abdominal and Gastrointestinal Consultant Radiologist based in Benevento, Italy at the Sacro Cuore di Gesù - Fatebenefratelli Hospital. His Alma Mater is the historical Vanvitelli University in Naples, Italy, one of the most important schools for gastrointestinal imaging in Italy. The interest for GI and abdominal imaging was consolidated at the prestigious St. Mark’s Hospital in London, United Kingdom, a competitive and top-level environment. In Benevento, he conducts both clinical activity and research, with the focus on constant testing, innovation and optimisation of all imaging techniques to the needs of the clinical practice. He is currently working on further developments of gel-enhanced MR Fistulography, which was entirely developed and used in clinical routine for the first time at the Fatebenefratelli Hospital, Morphodynamic Imaging techniques in and pharyngo-oesophageal motility diseases and Virtual Colonoscopy. His academic record stands, at the time of writing, at 26 top-level publications, most of them in the field of GI imaging, with several participations as a speaker at international radiology meetings, such as the European Congress of Radiology (ECR 2019, 2020, 2021), Congress of the European Society of Gastrointestinal and Abdominal Imaging (ESGAR 2019, 2020), Annual Radiology Meeting in Dubai (2020, 2021). Dr. Fontanella is a member of several Radiology Societies worldwide, such as the European Society of Radiology, European Society of Gastrointestinal and Abdominal Imaging, British Society of Gastrointestinal and Abdominal Imaging, Radiological Society of North America, Korean Society of Radiology. He regularly hosts GI themed seminars for the Radiological Society of the Emirates. In 2021, dr. Fontanella was nominated Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts in London.
