Emergency endovascular repair of an aortoesophageal fistula caused by a foreign body.
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.
Assink
Joeri
J
Department of Vascular Surgery, VU University Medical Center, 1007 MB Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Vierhout
Bastiaan P
BP
Snellen
Jaap P
JP
Benner
Paul M
PM
Paul
Marinus A
MA
Cuesta
Miguel A
MA
Wisselink
Willem
W
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*