The esophagus extends from the lower border of the cricoid cartilage (at the level of the sixth cervical vertebra) to the cardiac orifice of the stomach at the side of the body of the 11th thoracic vertebra. The upper limit in the newborn infant is found at the level of the fourth or fifth cervical vertebra, and it ends higher, at the level of the ninth thoracic vertebra.[2, 3]