[Epiphrenic oesophageal diverticulum with an oesophagobronchial fistula resulting in a lung abscess]

Abstract

Epiphrenic oesophageal diverticula are rare and often asymptomatic. In this case report a 58-year-old woman was diagnosed with an epiphrenic oesophageal diverticulum, which developed an oesophagobronchial fistula leading to a pulmonary abscess in the right lower lobe, septicaemia and acute respiratory failure. The patient underwent right lower lobectomy and the diverticulum was stapled off the oesophagus. The post-operative course was uneventful. This complication is only rarely described previously.