Cold water polydipsia: unheralded marker of spontaneous esophageal rupture.

I have reported two cases of spontaneous esophageal rupture (Boerhaave's syndrome) in which the patients had atypical chest pain and an unquenchable thirst for cold water in the absence of dehydration. Consumption of cold water appeared to give momentary pain relief. This symptom complex may be a typical early finding in Boerhaave's syndrome. Physicians should be alert to this atypical cause of chest and epigastric pain.