THE disease called 'cardiospasm' is a diffuse abnorma-with the Negus hydrostatic dilator or Heller's operality of oesophageal motility. The cause is not known tion. Heller's operation was undertaken in 26 patients, and it is not known whether the pathological changes 15 of them female. From the graph it would appear in the established case are primary or secondary. The that a disproportionately large number of young majority of patients with cardiospasm die before their females were submitted to cardiomyotomy. The onset expected age of survival (Ellis, 1960) and as a direct of symptoms in cardiospasm is, however, common in consequence of one of the complications of the adolescents, the incidence of cardiospasm is slightly