Aortodigestive Fistula: A Rare Cause of Digestive Bleeding

Abstract

Backgound: Aorto-digestive fistulas remain a fatal disease entity often occurring after vascular surgeries. Eso-gastro-duodenal endoscopy is essential to explore the upper digestive bleeding. The negativity of morphological examinations should not exclude the diagnosis. Diagnosis has benefited in recent years from developments in cross-sectional imaging: computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The severity of bleeding is linked to the vital consequences (mortality close to 50% up to 100% in the absence of treatment), functional (30% amputation), and to the underlying infection itself correlated with the attack of the stent and the anastomosis. Patients: We report three cases of aorto-digestive fistulas treated at The University Hospital Hassan II to show the challenging diagnosis and therapeutic of such rare causes of upper digestive bleeding. Results: three patients were admitted to the emergency endoscopy unit for upper digestive bleeding, 2 of them had a medical history of Behcet Disease and two had past aortic aneurism surgery. The couple’s upper endoscopy and CT scan angiography made the diagnosis. Unfortunately, 2 patients died from fatal bleeding. Conclusion: Aortodigestive fistula is an extremely serious complication of aortic aneurisms and a rare cause of gastrointestinal bleeding. This diagnosis should be considered in any patient presenting with digestive bleeding with vascular disease or previous history of vascular stent.