Esophagopericardial fistula as a rare complication after total gastrectomy for cancer.
BACKGROUND
Esophagopericardial fistula is a rare but life-threatening complication of benign, malignant or traumatic esophageal disease. It is most commonly associated with benign etiology and carries a high mortality rate which increases with delay in diagnosis.


METHODS
We present a case of an esophagopericardial fistula as a rare complication in a 53-year-old male patient, 7 months after total gastrectomy for an adenocarcinoma of the esophagogastric junction.


CONCLUSIONS
The prognosis of esophagopericardial fistula is poor, especially when it is associated with malignancy.
Dafnios
Nikolaos
N
Second Department of Surgery, Areteion University Hospital, Athens Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 11528 Athens, Greece. drmarinis@gmail.com
Anastasopoulos
Georgios
G
Marinis
Athanasios
A
Polydorou
Andreas
A
Gkiokas
Georgios
G
Fragulidis
Georgios
G
Athanasopoulos
Panayiotis
P
Theodosopoulos
Theodosios
T
D004937:Esophageal Fistula / Q000209:etiology*; D004938:Esophageal Neoplasms / Q000601:surgery*; D004943:Esophagogastric Junction; D005402:Fistula / Q000209:etiology*; D005743:Gastrectomy / Q000009:adverse effects*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010496:Pericardium; D011026:Pneumopericardium / Q000209:etiology; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000601:surgery*