Esophagopulmonary fistulas. Description of a case and review of the literature

: We report the case of a 30-year old male patient who presented with chronic right lung purulence of 10 years' duration and of undetermined origin. At pneumonectomy a fistula joining the oesophagus to the cavities in the right lower lobe was discovered. Non tumoral oesophago-bronchial or oesophago-tracheal fistulae are rare, but oesophago-pulmonary fistulae are truly exceptional, since only 3 cases were found in the literature. The possible causes of this pathology in our patient are discussed.