[X-ray diagnosis of the spread of cancer of the esophagus to the trachea and major bronchi].

X-ray and endoscopic investigations were compared in 80 operated on patients to estimate the role of the x-ray method for a choice of adequate therapeutic tactics for esophageal cancer patients. Operations were explorative or palliative resulting from the involvement of the tracheobronchial tree in a tumor process. The efficacy of the x-ray method in the detection of tracheal compression by an esophageal tumor is higher than that of tracheobronchoscopy which in its turn, has its advantages in the determination of tumor spreading to the left major bronchus.