Download PDF
Thorac Cardiovasc Surg 1985; 33(5): 311-313
DOI: 10.1055/s-2007-1014148
© Georg Thieme Verlag Stuttgart · New York

Congenital Esophagobronchial Fistula in the Adult

K. Ala-Kulju, J. A. Salo
  • Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, Helsinki University Central Hospital, Helsinki, Finland
Further Information

Publication History

1985

Publication Date:
19 March 2008 (online)

  PDF Download  Permissions and Reprints All articles of this category

Summary

Three adult patients with congenital esophagobronchial fistula, treated between 1967 and 1984 at the Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, Helsinki University Central Hospital, are presented.

Correct preoperative diagnosis is very difficult and was not made for several years in our cases. Unexplained recurrence of pulmonary infection was the common feature in the patients' histories, and repeated esophagograms were helpful in diagnosing this rare congenital abnormality, which was fatal in one of our cases. The treatment should always be surgical.

Key words

Esophagobronchial fistula