DEAR DR. ROACH: My father was recently diagnosed with a type 4 hiatal hernia. His doctor said that this can be very serious and he may need to have surgery to correct the problem. He's 85 years old.

THE DIAPHRAGM is a muscular sheet that separates the chest cavity (containing the heart, lungs, esophagus and other organs) from the abdominal cavity (containing the stomach, large and small intestine ...

THE literature is replete with excellent accounts of the clinical aspects and the surgical management of all of the classic types of diaphragmatic hernia. With the excellent contributions of ...

Dear Dr. Roach: Two months after having neck surgery under general anesthesia, I find that I have a partially collapsed lung. A CT scan showed “subsegmental atelectasis.” It also showed that I have a ...

Dear Anon.: “Atelectasis” (Greek for “imperfect extension”) means that an area of the lung is not properly inflated, so it is not helping exchange gasses. This is a universal finding after surgery, ...

I find it very interesting how many people truly suffer from indigestion, heartburn, reflux, and esophagitis. Many patients will state that they have also been diagnosed with a hiatal hernia. A hiatal ...

The diaphragm is a dome-shaped muscle that separates the chest from the abdomen. This muscle, also called the thoracic diaphragm, is the main muscle used for breathing and is also involved in other ...

Mark Gurarie is a writer covering health topics, technology, music, books, and culture. He also teaches health science and research writing at George Washington University's School of Medical and ...

WITH the development of safer anesthesia and better surgical technic over the past thirty years the repair of esophageal hiatus hernia has become a well recognized surgical procedure. It is ordinarily ...

*Refers to the latest 2 years of stltoday.com stories. Cancel anytime. Dear Dr. Roach • My father was recently diagnosed with a type 4 hiatal hernia. His doctor said that this can be very serious and ...