[Hodgkin's disease revealed by an esophagotracheal fistula (author's transl)]

Abstract

The authors report the first published case of an esophagotracheal fistula revealing the presence of Hodgkin's disease. Esophagotracheal fistula is a very rare complication of this disease, as only about twenty cases were found in the literature, but all these patients had known Hodgkin's disease and had received mediastinal irradiation. Radiotherapy has therefore an adjuvant role, but this case clearly illustrates that these fistulae are mainly the consequence of phenomena that are also extremely rare: necrotic adenopathies, esophageal and tracheal localizations. Biopsy was possibly negative in these cases because of the very necrotic nature of the lesions. The prognosis is poor.