[Aortoesophageal fistula by swallowed foreign body--a case report and review of the literature].

A case of aortoesophageal fistula is presented. The etiology, symptoms, and diagnosis of aortoesophageal fistula are reviewed. A 22-year-old nurse died just after massive hematemesis. The autopsy finding revealed massive hemorrhage in the gastrointestinal tract and conspicuously pale organs. The fistula between the thoracic descending aorta and esophagus was observed. Microscopically, acute inflammation and blood clots containing bacterial colonies were found around the fistulous tract. Eight days before her death, she felt retrosternal sticking pain just after eating a baked slice of sea bream. She consulted a family doctor, but no foreign body was discovered in the esophagus with radiography and endoscopy. As a dull pain and slight fever did not disappear and continued intermittently, she often consulted the doctor. A small hemorrhage in the left wall of esophagus was noted 2 days before her death with endoscopy. She was hospitalized over the night and the next day she was discharged and get home. After taking a nap, she felt a syncopal attack in the afternoon. A tarry stool was noticed in the evening. The next morning, she died suddenly in exsanguination. The clinical feature of aortoesophageal fistula is uniform and has been described as Chiari's triad, i.e., the chest pain, the symptom-free interval and the signal hemorrhage, and the fatal hemorrhage. The present case showed the typical symptom of aortoesophageal fistula by swallowed foreign body, though fish bone or any foreign body was not discovered with examinations. Approximately 100 cases of aortoesophageal fistula by esophageal foreign body have been reported since 1818. The present case is the second one reported in Japan as caused by foreign body.