Endovascular treatment of thoracic aortic fistulas

Aortoesophageal and aortobronchial fistulas constitute a problem in therapy because of the high rates of morbidity and mortality associated with operation. From May 1996 to March 2000, we treated by an endovascular procedure one aortoesophageal and three aortobronchial fistulas. There was no postoperative death. We noted one peripheral vascular complication that required a surgical procedure, one postoperative confusion, and one inflammatory syndrome. In one case, because of a persistent leakage after 21 months, we had to implant a second endovascular stent graft. A few weeks later the reopening of this patient's esophageal fistula led to his death by mediastinitis 25 months after the first procedure. The few cases published seem to bear out the interest, observed in our 4 patients, of an endovascular approach to treat complex lesions such as fistulas of the thoracic aorta especially in emergency or palliative cases.