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Diagnosis | Inadvertent cannulation of the esophagus

Lab Animal volume 34, pages 20–21 (2005)Cite this article

Subsequent necropsy revealed that the cannula had been inadvertently placed in the thoracic esophagus. The contrast agent most likely leaked into the abdomen during dissection.

The surgeons in this case were two physicians participating in a cardiology fellowship. Both had received extensive training and had significant expertise in performing surgery in humans. The striking difference between a human esophagus and mouse esophagus is the color. Although both esophagi have striated muscular layers, with different arrangements of muscle fibers, the human esophagus is a ruddy pink like a dog or cat esophagus. In contrast, the mouse esophagus ranges from white to very pale pink. The esophagus in the mouse is found dorsal to the trachea and slightly to the left of the trachea by mid thorax. The descending portion of the aorta is located dorsal to the esophagus and trachea in the thoracic cavity of the mouse. As the surgeons only removed the sternum, they had a limited field of exposure within the thoracic cavity. Superior orientation is achieved by opening both the thoracic and abdominal cavity, and leaving the diaphragm intact and attached to the walls of the thoracic cavity. In the mouse, the esophagus can be seen going through the diaphragm and into the stomach. Next to the esophagus, the caudal vena cava is seen going through the diaphragm and closely associated with the liver. The aorta lies dorsal against the vertebral column and because its adventitia is surrounded and attached to intrathoracic and intraabdominal fat, it is not obvious when going through the diaphragm. We speculated that if the surgeons had created a larger field of exposure by removing part of the left and right rib cage, and opening the abdominal cavity midline, they would have distinguished the esophagus from the aorta because of the anatomical landmarks. Their small field of exposure restricted the use of anatomical landmarks and they most likely mistook the pale color of the mouse esophagus for the similar color of the human aorta. In the mouse, exposure of the thoracic aorta without tissue dissection is only possible in the aortic thoracic arch. The descending aorta requires dissection and gentle traction to lift it from the parietal serosa.

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Figure 3: An ImTek MicroCAT II microCT scanner located at Louisiana State University Health Science Center–Shreveport Small Animal Imaging facility.
Figure 4: Longitudinal median plane view said of the same mouse in Figures 1 and 2.
Figure 5: Longitudinal frontal plane view of the internal body structure of the same mouse in Figures 1,2,3.

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Diagnosis | Inadvertent cannulation of the esophagus. Lab Anim 34, 20–21 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1038/laban1105-20

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