Tracheomediastinal Fistula (TMF) Following Therapy of an Intrathoracic Tumor

 

Diagnostic features:

(1) The patient is treated for an intrathoracic tumor in or near the trachea.

(2) Sometime after the therapy the patient presents with symptoms such as shortness of breath, chest pain and/or a sense of fullness in the neck.

(3) The diagnosis is typically made on an imaging study.

(4) The diagnosis requires exclusion of the fistula being caused by extension of tumor unrelated to therapy.

 

Tumors being treated may include:

(1) Hodgkin’s disease

(2) non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma

(3) primary lung carcinoma

(4) tracheal carcinoma

 

Preceding therapy may include:

(1) chemoradiation

(2) laser therapy of tracheal tumor

(3) mediastinoscopy