J Korean Soc Traumatol.  2019 Sep;32(3):172-175. 10.20408/jti.2019.023.

Aortoesophageal Fistula after Thoracic Endovascular Aortic Repair for Blunt Thoracic Aortic Injury

• Nitta M
• Tamakawa T
• Kamimura N
• Honda T
• Endoh H

• KMID: 2462956
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.20408/jti.2019.023

Abstract

Although thoracic endovascular aortic repair (TEVAR) has grown to become the standard of care to treat blunt thoracic aortic injury (BTAI), the long-term effects of TEVAR are still unclear. We here present a 72-year-old man with BTAI due to a traffic accident. He successfully underwent TEVAR and was transferred to another rehabilitation hospital 2 months after the accident. However, 1 month later, he underwent gastroscopy with fever and hematemesis and was diagnosed with aorto-esophageal fistula (AEF). After being re-transferred to Niigata University Medical and Dental Hospital, we tried to convince him to undergo surgical treatment, but he strongly refused. He received palliative care and died due to rupture of the aortic pseudoaneurysm 3 days after the hospital transfer. Fatal complications like AEF may occur after TEVAR, so clinicians need to carefully follow patients who underwent TEVAR.

Keyword

Esophageal fistula; Aortic rupture; Frailty; Endovascular procedures

MeSH Terms

Accidents, Traffic
Aged
Aneurysm, False
Aortic Rupture
Endovascular Procedures
Esophageal Fistula
Fever
Fistula*
Gastroscopy
Hematemesis
Humans
Palliative Care
Rehabilitation
Rupture
Standard of Care