Table 1.

Characteristics of patients who underwent esophageal resection by period of surgery

Characteristics	1990–1994		1995–1999		2000–2004		P value
	No. of patients	%	No. of patients	%	No. of patients	%
Age (years)							0.19
Median	66		65		64
Range	37–87		33–85		33–86
Gender							0.70
Male	109	70.8	139	74.3	159	74.3
Female	45	29.2	48	25.7	55	25.7
Comorbidity							0.25a,b
No	68	44.2	74	39.6	83	38.8
1 organ system	51	33.1	61	32.6	85	39.7
2 organ systems	19	12.3	30	16.0	41	19.2
≥3 organ systems	4	2.6	7	3.7	4	1.9
Unknown	12	7.8	15	8.0	1	0.5
Histology							0.93a,c
Adenocarc.	107	69.5	130	69.5	144	67.3
Squamous carc.	45	29.2	51	27.3	52	24.5
Barrett’s dysplasia	1	0.6	3	1.6	6	2.8
Others	–	–	2	1.1	5	2.3
Unknown	1	0.6	1	0.5	7	3.3
Tumor localization							0.97a,d
Cervical esoph.	4	2.6	3	1.6	4	1.9
Mid esoph.	23	14.9	30	16.0	32	15.0
Distal esoph./GE junction	127	82.5	152	81.3	177	82.7
Unknown	–	–	2	1.1	1	0.5
Stage (pTNM)							0.65a
0	2	1.3	5	2.7	6	2.8
I	10	6.5	26	13.9	31	14.5
II	80	51.9	80	42.8	82	38.3
III	52	33.8	60	32.1	74	34.6
IV	9	5.8	12	6.4	15	7.0
Unknown	1	0.6	4	2.1	6	2.8
Neoadjuvant treatment							<0.001a,e
No	150	97.4	165	88.2	160	74.8
Chemo ± radiotherapy	2	1.3	19	10.1	54	25.2
Unknown	2	1.3	3	1.6	–	–
Surgical approach							<0.001a,f
Abdomino-cervical	53	34.4	97	51.9	156	72.9
Thoraco-abdominal	62	40.3	34	18.2	11	5.9
Abd-thor-cervical	16	10.4	27	14.4	27	12.6
Abdominal	23	14.9	29	15.5	15	7.0
Unknown	–	–	–	–	5	2.3
Anastomoses							<0.001g
Cervical	69	44.8	126	67.4	187	87.4
Thoracic	60	39.0	30	16.0	12	5.6
Abdominal	25	16.2	31	16.6	15	7.0
Total no. of patients	154		187		214

GE gastro-esophageal

^a“Unknown” category was excluded

^bLinear trend analysis

^cSquamous versus adenocarcinoma plus Barrett’s dysplasia

^dDistal esophagus/GE-junction versus others

^eNo neoadjuvant therapy versus others

^fAbdomino-cervical versus others

^gCervical versus thoracic plus abdominal