Progressive Dysphagia and Weight Loss in an African American Woman

Over the past 6 months, a 76-year-old African American woman has had increasing difficulty in swallowing solid food and has lost 40 lb. She can now tolerate only liquids and foods with a pudding-like consistency. Ingestion of more solid food produces the sensation that it is “sticking in her chest,” and she subsequently regurgitates it undigested. She denies heartburn, reflux, nausea, hematemesis, abdominal pain, and melena.