title: Massive hemorrhage caused by major pulmonary vessel-cutaneous fistula in the late postoperative period: report of two cases.
abstract: Sudden life-threatening hemorrhage caused by erosion of the wall of a thoracic blood vessel such as the aorta, pulmonary artery, or pulmonary vein, in the late postoperative period is extremely rare and presents a challenging emergency. We report the cases of two patients whose only clinical manifestation was a hemorrhagic cutaneous chest wall fistula. Both patients were treated by emergency surgery. The diagnosis and management of this clinical entity requires a high index of suspicion and innovative therapeutic solutions.
authors.affiliation: First Department of Thoracic Surgery, Sotiria General Hospital for Chest Diseases, 7 P. Dimitrakopoulou Street, 11141 Athens, Greece.
authors.forename: Panagiotis
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Misthos
authors.forename: Evangelos
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Sepsas
authors.forename: Kalliopi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Athanassiadi
authors.forename: Ioannis
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Skottis
mesh_terms: D001164:Arteriovenous Fistula / Q000150:complications*; D017577:Cutaneous Fistula / Q000150:complications*; D006470:Hemorrhage / Q000209:etiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011184:Postoperative Period; D035441:Thoracic Wall / Q000503:physiopathology*; D013997:Time Factors