title: Emergency endovascular repair of an aortoesophageal fistula caused by a foreign body.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To report stent-graft treatment of an aortoesophageal fistula caused by a foreign body.
  
  
  METHODS
  A 32-year-old man was admitted with massive upper gastrointestinal bleeding 10 days after swallowing a fish bone. Computed tomography demonstrated a fistula from the proximal descending thoracic aorta to the mid esophagus. The bleeding was initially controlled by inflating a Sengstaken-Blakemore tube. A 28-mm x 16-cm Talent stent-graft was delivered transfemorally to repair the aortic defect; the esophageal injury was repaired primarily using a pedicled intercostal muscle flap via a right thoracotomy. Chest radiography at 12 months showed no migration of the stent-graft. Blood parameters of infection were normal; the patient remains well 18 months after stent-graft implantation.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This case illustrates stent-graft treatment of a life-threatening hemorrhage from an aortoesophageal fistula.
authors.affiliation: Department of Vascular Surgery, VU University Medical Center, 1007 MB Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Joeri
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Assink
authors.forename: Bastiaan P
authors.initials: BP
authors.lastname: Vierhout
authors.forename: Jaap P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Snellen
authors.forename: Paul M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Benner
authors.forename: Marinus A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Paul
authors.forename: Miguel A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Cuesta
authors.forename: Willem
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Wisselink
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D004638:Emergency Treatment; D004937:Esophageal Fistula / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000209:etiology* / Q000601:surgery*; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005547:Foreign Bodies / Q000150:complications*; D006471:Gastrointestinal Hemorrhage / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013524:Surgical Flaps; D013908:Thoracotomy / Q000379:methods; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D016157:Vascular Fistula / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000209:etiology* / Q000601:surgery*