Spontaneous bleeding from the molar gingiva may reflect the presence of a life-threatening vascular malformation. Sporadic reports of exsanguinating hemorrhage in the dental literature warn of the dangers of extraction, although deaths from unrecognized lesions or secondary to mandibular fracture still occur. Arteriovenous malformation (AVM) may be either unilateral or, ...

Variants of bladder exstrophy are rare developmental abnormalities. Only a few cases have been reported in the literature to date. A case of superior vesical fistula with split symphysis and dorsal chordee is presented. If associated anomalies are absent, diagnosis and management of these lesions are easy and have a ...

The authors report on their experiences with 21 patients with skull defects which were closed by polymethylmethacrylated plates (PMMA) from 1974 to 1990 at the University Children's Hospital in Zurich and the "Gemeinschaftspraxis fuer Kinderchirurgie". The results were compared with 15 cases treated by autologous grafts. Because of false indication, ...

A case of traumatic carotid-cavernous sinus fistula (CCF) associated with an intradural pseudoaneurysm is reported. A 42-year-old man developed traumatic CCF after severe head trauma. Cerebral angiography demonstrated a direct CCF associated with an intradural pseudoaneurysm at the C2 portion. Transarterial balloon embolization of the CCF caused severe subarachnoid hemorrhage. ...

Carotid-cavernous sinus fistulas are rare complications of traumatic brain injury, facial trauma and postorthognathic surgery. A high level of clinical suspicion is necessary, particularly for patients who are unable to communicate, to establish the diagnosis. A case of delayed presentation of a carotid-cavernous sinus fistula after traumatic brain injury is ...

Esophageal and tracheal fistulas, which occur in 0.05% of medicolegal autopsies, were demonstrated in three cases by a postmortem radiographic technique using silicone rubber/lead oxide as a contrasting medium that vulcanizes at room temperature. In one 83-year-old male, a tracheoesophageal fistula was detected, which had developed after surgical repair of ...

Primary aortoduodenal fistula is a rare and potentially fatal condition. Awareness of its existence, precise diagnostic evaluation, and early surgical intervention are essential for the survival of the patient. Although early experience indicated that interruption of the fistula, repair of the enteric defect, oversewing of the aorta and extraanatomic bypass ...

Spontaneous cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) rhinorrhea constitutes only 3% to 4% of CSF fistulas. Nontraumatic, normal pressure CSF fistulas with resultant rhinorrhea, in which no cause can be identified, or primary spontaneous CSF rhinorrhea, is considerably rarer. Presented here are two cases of CSF rhinorrhea of this nature, including the diagnostic ...

The spontaneous rupture of an abdominal aneurysm into an adjacent major vein results in a profound and rapidly worsening haemodynamic disturbance. Survival depends on prompt diagnosis and closure of the fistula at operation. Eight cases are reported and modes of presentation, diagnostic criteria and management principles are reviewed in a ...

Lesions of the colon are generally considered to be sequelae of pancreatitis. They include: localized paralytic ileus (colon cutoff sign), necrosis, fistulae, stenosis and varices. On the basis of an extensive review of the literature (332 cases), it is suggested that the real incidence of these lesions is significant. The ...

A case of herniation of the antral membrane through a recent extraction site is presented. The lesion was initially diagnosed as a tumor by the referring dentist. Oroantral fistulas are not an uncommon finding after dental extractions. It is rare, however, to see herniation of the antral membrane with large ...

Aortobronchial fistula is a rare condition that is invariably fatal if not diagnosed and surgically treated. With appropriate surgical intervention, survival rates greater than 70% can be achieved. A review of the literature and an illustrative case report are presented. A total of 63 fistulas in 62 patients have been ...

Oral-antral-nasal fistula (OAN) is a commonly encountered clinical problem. The literature is filled with a plethora of methods described for closing a persistent OAN. Local flaps are available to close minor to moderate defects, however, large fistulae can be a very challenging reconstructive problem. Various areas of the oral cavity ...

Congenital branchial fistula and their embryology is well described in the literature. The accepted standard treatment method includes stepladder excision for extensive fistulas. This paper presents two cases (Case 1 and 2) which are embryologically typical of second and third arch origin respectively; and a third case (Case 3) which ...

Otologic manifestations of decompression sickness (DCS) occur only rarely. However, with more frequent exposures to deeper depths in recent years, several reports of hearing loss due to DCS have appeared. Nevertheless, the scant literature directly discussing the subject establishes otologic DCS as an important cause of diving-induced hearing loss. When ...

Vesicovaginal fistulae are usually traumatic in nature, following obstetric or gynecologic trauma. Here, our experience with vesicovaginal fistula repair in 68 cases, performed transvesically (58 cases) or transperitoneally-transvesically, with pedicled omental interposition in 10 cases over the last 8 years is described. The size of fistulae ranged from 1 to ...

Arteriovenous malformations (AVMs) of the pancreas are rare and frequently complicated by gastrointestinal bleeding. We present a case of AVM of the pancreas accompanied by arterioportal shunt (AP shunt) in a patient with hepatocellular carcinoma and cirrhosis. Therapeutic embolization of AVM was successfully carried out. The clinical significance of this ...

Arteriovenous (AV) malformation or angiodysplasia of the gastrointestinal tract is a very rare cause of bleeding in children. These lesions are congenital anomalies and thought to be of hamartomatous origin. We report on a 4-year-old child with an AV malformation of the distal ileum treated by local resection. A brief ...

We describe a child with congenital aplasia cutis congenita of the scalp and an occult giant posterior fossa arteriovenous fistula. Previous case reports of central nervous system malformations associated with aplasia cutis congenita are reviewed. The exact incidence of such malformations is unknown. All patients with aplasia cutis congenita should ...

The removal of brain stem arteriovenous malformations is one of the most challenging problems in neurosurgery. The authors report a successful total removal of an arteriovenous malformation situated in the middle cerebellar peduncle, which was embedded in the floor of the fourth ventricle. The importance of dissection "flush" with coils ...

Oesophageal atresia with or without tracheo-oesophageal fistula is often associated with a functionally abnormal distal oesophagus. The association of oesophageal atresia and a distal oesophageal stenosis is less well recognized and is usually regarded as a rarity. We describe four cases of oesophageal stenosis distal to oesophageal atresia and review ...

Congenital bronchoesophageal fistulas in the adult age group are rare, with only approximately 20 cases having been recognized. All of these cases have been an isolated esophageal anomaly without other associated esophageal pathology. We present an interesting case of an adult with both symptomatic congenital bronchoesophageal fistula and proximal esophageal ...

A case of portal hypertension secondary to an arteriovenous malformation of the sigmoid colon is presented. The importance of mesenteric angiography in the diagnosis of this condition is discussed. The dramatic clinical improvement in this case following surgery emphasizes that arteriovenous malformations of the gastrointestinal tract represent a potentially curable ...

A case of neglected pessary is presented. After erosion through the anterior vaginal and bladder walls the device came to rest entirely within the bladder. Surgical management of removal of the pessary and repair of the resulting vesicovaginal fistula are described. Appropriate use of supportive pessaries as well as complications ...

The case of a 2-month-old boy with a congenital fistula of the dural carotid-cavernous sinus is presented. This is a rare vascular anomaly in infancy, and it may cause acute changes in vision. The child was initially followed up for 1 year to see if spontaneous thrombosis would occur. The ...

The natural history of cranial dural arteriovenous malformations (AVM's) is highly variable. The authors present their clinical experience with 17 dural AVM's in adults, including 10 cases with an aggressive neurological course (strictly defined as hemorrhage or progressive focal neurological deficit other than ophthalmoplegia). Two of these 10 patients died ...

A case of infected congenital commissural lip fistula is presented. It appeared as a cheek swelling associated with inflammation due to infection. This case was treated with antibiotics and surgical drainage through the fistula. Our experience suggests that the possibility of infection of the fistula should be considered particularly in ...

One hundred and four cases of osteoradionecrosis (ORN) of the mandible following irradiation of head and neck cancer are reported. Conservative management for ORN failed in all cases. Indications of hemimandibulectomy included intractable pain, severe trismus, pathological fracture, oro-cutaneous fistula and persistent exposure of bone. Surgical approach was intra-oral in ...

A patient with a large ecchordosis physaliphora extending from the sphenoid sinus into the subarachnoid space of the prepontine cistern and resulting in a cerebrospinal fluid fistula is described. Ecchordoses are most commonly asymptomatic and found only incidently at autopsy. This case report adds to the scant literature on symptomatic ...

Congenital bronchoesophageal fistula is a rare anomaly that normally appears in adult life. Because of a recent case, we reviewed the literature on this lesion. There have been several reviews in the past but none has included all cases. The largest review included only two thirds of the cases (1966). ...

A 70-year-old hypertensive woman suffered sudden onset of bilateral blepharoptosis. Within a few hours she developed focal signs attributable to a lesion of the mesencephalon, and a stuporous state, from which she did not recover. Neuropathological examination showed a mesencephalic haematoma, but no arteriovenous malformation. A review of reported cases ...

Five cases of veno-lymphatic angiodysplasia with penetration of one or several inguinal lymph nodes by the long saphenous vein, or one of its major branches, are reported. This malformation is usually detected during surgery for varicose veins with ligation of the long saphenous vein in the fossa ovalis. The significance ...

We report a patient with chronic alcoholic calcifying pancreatitis in whom a pancreaticoportal fistula was demonstrated by endoscopic retrograde pancreatography. No complications could be ascribed to this fistula except for thrombosis of the portal, splenic, and superior mesenteric veins. An expectant conservative management was adopted. A short review of the ...

Four cases of gastrocolic fistula complicating benign gastric ulcer are described, bringing the total number of individually reviewed cases in the English language literature to 108. A review of 30 cases reported in the past 10 years reveals a surprisingly high percentage of young, female patients. Three-quarters of these patients ...

A rare case of a postnephrectomy arteriovenous fistula involving the major renal vessels is presented herein. This type of postnephrectomy arteriovenous fistula is very unusual; in fact, since first documented in 1934, only 65 cases have been reported in the world literature, including 2 cases from Japan. Even though postoperative ...

The Fogarty catheter is an important device used by vascular surgeons to simplify the surgical treatment of thromboembolic disorders. Complications from use of the catheter are rare. This case report is about a patient who developed a peroneal arteriovenous fistula following popliteal thromboembolectomy. The literature regarding this unusual injury is ...

We report the cases of two patients, each of whom had two separate angiographically demonstrable intracerebral arteriovenous malformations (AVMs). One patient had an intraventricular hemorrhage with AVMs in the basal ganglia and the insula on the left side, and the other had a pontine hemorrhage with AVMs in the pons ...

Spontaneous umbilical fistula in Crohn's disease is extremely rare, with very few reports found on a 15-year review of the medical literature. Among those reports, no patient had prior abdominal surgery. Attention was recently focused on this unique entity when spontaneous umbilical fistula was diagnosed in a 64-year-old anemic male ...

A 29-year-old woman suffered a vesicouterine fistula following cesarean section. The fistula was treated successfully after cystoscopic identification and fulguration of the tract. Although various surgical approaches to this problem have been described, and a number of cases of spontaneous resolution are reported, to date there have been no reports ...

The round window reflex is normally absent in stapedial fixation. In this study, six cases of oval window fistula are described in which the round window reflex was absent. This is probably because there is insufficient pressure transmitted to the round window membrane through the perilymph because of leakage from ...

This report of an aorto-left renal vein fistula (ALRVF) of traumatic origin is the sixth such case on record. The fistula was successfully repaired, with preservation of the kidney, by autotransfusion. Review of the English language literature revealed the differences between spontaneous and traumatic ALRVF. Spontaneous fistulas were caused by ...

Spontaneous aortocaval fistula is an uncommon complication of an abdominal aortic aneurysm. This report details two cases of this condition presenting with symptoms attributable to arteriovenous shunting. Pain was not a prominent feature so that attention was not initially drawn to the abdomen. Diagnosis and management of the condition are ...

Pancreatic pleural effusion due to an internal fistula is an uncommon and often unrecognized clinical syndrome which complicates chronic pancreatitis. It frequently presents with chest and respiratory symptoms of pleural effusion with little abdominal complaints, and history of previous pancreatic disease is often absent, making the diagnosis easily missed. A ...

A 23-year-old male with an 87 per cent body surface area burn from a motor vehicle accident developed a left lower quadrant abdominal wall faecal fistula. This fistula presumably resulted from thermal injury to the level of the peritoneum. This case report describes the course and management of this unusual ...

The Rhinitis Clinic at the Royal National Throat Nose and Ear Hospital is a direct referral clinic dealing with approximately 300 new cases a year. Last year three cases of spontaneous CSF rhinorrhoea were diagnosed. In each case long term topical steroid sprays had been prescribed and the patients had ...

A case of colopleural fistula, resulting from strangulation and perforation of a diaphragmatic hernia and presenting as tension pneumothorax, is reported. The hernia was most likely a consequence of a stab wound to the left side of the chest four years before admittance. Colopleural fistula as a cause of tension ...

In this paper we describe the use of circular myotomies to approximate the oesophageal ends resulting from resection of an oesophageal stricture due to ingestion of domestic bleach. This procedure has spared the child from major oesophageal surgery with its known morbidity. This is the second case described using this ...

In five cases of labyrinthine fistulae caused by extensive cholesteatoma, more than 30-dB improvement in bone conduction was observed in four postoperative cases and in one case after preoperative administration of antibiotics. In each case, a fistula of more than 2 mm in length was present at the lateral semicircular ...

An 84-year-old man presented with acute dyspnea and chest pain attributed to his long medical history of cardiorespiratory problems. Admission chest roentgenogram revealed a moderate pneumopericardium and a cavitary lesion in the base of the right lung. The lesion was found to be a bronchogenic carcinoma perforating through the upper ...

A case of a 55-year-old man with known Fabry's disease, complicated by entero-vesical fistula and associated with enlarged mesenteric lymph nodes, is reported. Histopathologic and ultrastructural findings of the involved lymph nodes are described, and pathogenesis of the entero-vesical fistula is briefly discussed. This is the first case, to the ...