[Biliobronchial fistula secondary to percutaneous dilatation of the benign biliary stricture]

Biliobronchial fistula is rare. Very rarely it may be congenital, more frequently it is acquired as a complication of the hydatide cyst of the liver, pyogenic abscess, serious trauma and resection of the liver as well as recurrent cholangitis due to benign bile duct stricture or cholangiolithiasis. The main causes of the biliobronchial fistula are billiary obstruction and infectious lesion (abscess) in the liver.

We present a 56-year-old man with benign stricture of the hepaticojejunostomy performed after operative common bile duct injury, who developed biliobronchial fistula following repeated percutaneous drainage of the liver abscess and percutaneous dilatation of the strictured anastomosis. Over the years the patient developed atrophy/hypertrophy complex, portal hypertension, grade II esophageal varicosities, ascites and splenomegaly. Although biliobronchial fistula was solved by a successful surgical reconstruction (new wide hepaticojejunostomy), the operation had a limited value as it was performed late after permanent lesions of the liver and intrahepatic bile ducts had already developed.

Surgical reconstruction of strictured biliodigestive anastomosis should be considered on time as a possibly better solution than percutaneous dilatation. According to the authors' knowledge, a similar case of biliobronchial fistula as a complication of percutaneous dilatation of the benign biliary stricture has not been reported before in the literature.