Oesophageal pulmonary fistula secondary to oesophageal carcinoma

A man in his early 60s presented with dysphagia and odynophagia. He was diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma of the oesophagus. During his hospital stay, he developed a productive cough and experienced recurrent fever spikes. Chest radiograph revealed an abscess in the upper lobe segment of the right lung. The patient was treated with multiple antibiotics but there was no clinical-radiological improvement. Hence, CT of the thorax was performed which revealed an oesophageal pulmonary fistula. This was further confirmed by oesophagogastroduodenoscopy. We report a case of an oesophageal pulmonary fistula in a patient with oesophageal carcinoma complicated by a lung abscess, and its successful management by the placement of a self-expanding metallic stent and drainage of lung abscess via a Malecot catheter.