title: Gastroaortic fistula as an early complication of esophagectomy.
abstract: Gastroaortic fistula following esophagogastrectomy is an uncommon and invariably fatal complication without urgent surgical intervention. We report 1 such case and review the world literature identifying 22 previous cases. It characteristically presents 2 to 3 weeks after esophagogastrectomy with an initial herald bleed, followed by a latent period with a mean duration of 10 hours (range: 30 minutes to 3 days) and final exsanguination. Only 1 patient in this series survived. Awareness is necessary to allow prompt diagnosis and treatment of this almost invariably lethal but curable condition.
authors.affiliation: Department of General Surgery, Poole General Hospital, United Kingdom. molinacarlos@worldonline.es
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Molina-Navarro
authors.forename: S W
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Hosking
authors.forename: S J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Hayward
authors.forename: A D
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Flowerdew
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001013:Aorta, Thoracic; D001018:Aortic Diseases / Q000209:etiology*; D016629:Esophagectomy / Q000009:adverse effects*; D005260:Female; D005747:Gastric Fistula / Q000209:etiology*; D006801:Humans; D013997:Time Factors; D016157:Vascular Fistula / Q000209:etiology*