[Analysis of 15 cases of bronchial-pulmonary artery fistula]

Objective: To summarize the clinical characteristics of bronchial-pulmonary artery fistula and evaluate the effect of interventional closure of bronchial-pulmonary artery fistula. Methods: A retrospective case study was conducted. Fifteen children with hemoptysis who were diagnosed with bronchial-pulmonary artery fistula in Beijing Children's Hospital, Capital Medical University from January 2018 to March 2022 were selected. Their clinical symptoms and chest-enhanced CT findings were recorded. The children who failed to improve after anti-infection and hemostasis treatment were treated with transcatheter embolization through microparticles under digital subtraction angiography (DSA). The efficacy and post-operation recurrence were evaluated. Results: There were 15 children, including 9 males and 6 females, aged 9.8 (3.7, 12.1) years, weighing 35 (16, 55) kg. There was hemoptysis of varying degrees before surgery. Only 2 children had decreased hemoglobin. Chest enhanced CT showed that their bronchial arteries were thickened and tortuous, including 11 cases of single vessel disease and 4 cases of multivessel disease; 11 children had varying degrees of pneumonia and 4 children had atelectasis. Except for one case effectively treated with medical therapy, the remaining 14 cases were all treated with transcatheter interventional closure with embolic microparticles, among whom 12 had their fistula completely blocked with a single operation and the other 2 children underwent multiple operations because of too many fistulas. One child had extensive bronchial-pulmonary artery fistula which failed to be blocked completely even after multiple operations. Among the remaining 13 children, only 2 patients whose fistula was considered to be completely closed had recurrence presenting with hemoptysis at 3 months and 2 years after the operation, and no hemoptysis was found after the second closure. All children were discharged without chest pain, spinal cord paraplegia, or other serious complications. Fourteen children were followed up for 1.4 (0.9,2.9) years, among whom one still has intermittent mild hemoptysis due to incomplete closure and the rest had a satisfactory outcome. Conclusions: Hemoptysis is the first symptom of bronchial-pulmonary artery fistula. For children with failed medical treatment, transcatheter closure with an embolic pellet is effective, safe and feasible, with a low recurrence rate.