A 52-year-old woman complains of difficulty swallowing solids and liquids for 4 months, along with soreness of the tongue. She has pallor, koilonychia, and smooth tongue papillae. Haemoglobin is 8.5 g/dL with microcytic indices. Barium swallow shows a thin web in the postcricoid region. Which complication is this condition classically known to predispose to?

• A Adenocarcinoma of the lower oesophagus
• B Squamous cell carcinoma of the postcricoid region ✓
• C Oesophageal candidiasis
• D Pharyngeal pouch formation

Explanation

The picture is Plummer-Vinson syndrome, also called Paterson-Brown-Kelly syndrome in British and Indian texts: upper oesophageal web with iron deficiency anaemia, koilonychia and glossitis. It is regarded as a premalignant state, with increased risk of postcricoid and upper oesophageal squamous carcinoma, a distribution seen especially in Indian females. Adenocarcinoma follows Barrett metaplasia from reflux, not webs.

Reference: Dhingra's Diseases of Ear, Nose and Throat, 7th ed.

High-yield for: NEET PGINI-CETNExTFMGEUSMLEPLABMRCP

Written and medically reviewed by the StethoPrep medical team.