Malignancy is the most common cause of tracheoesophageal fistulas. The malignancies commonly implicated in the development of tracheoesophageal fistulas are primary bronchial or esophageal carcinomas. Hodgkins disease rarely leads to such a fistula. We report a case of Hodgkin's disease with a tracheoesophageal fistula as well as a left recurrent nerve palsy at presentation. This presentation has no precedent in literature. The patient was treated with systemic chemotherapy and involved field radiotherapy. On follow up 1 year after the completion of treatment, he was clinically and radiologically disease free.
Tracheoesophageal fistula (TEF) without atresia is rare and usually presents with symptoms from birth. In this report, a 9-year-old boy presented with productive cough of 4 month's duration and was shown to have a right lung abscess seen on chest radiograph. His parents denied earlier respiratory symptoms or illnesses. Rigid bronchoscopy showed a fistulous opening of about 1 mm in diameter in the posterior wall of the trachea about 16 cm from the upper incisor teeth. Cannulation with a ureteral catheter demonstrated that the fistulous opening communicated with the esophageal lumen. The tracheoesophageal fistula was 1 cm long and was divided through a right supraclavicular incision. The postoperative period was uneventful, and the patient was discharged on the third postoperative day. This case demonstrated that TEF should be considered in any patient presenting with chronic respiratory problems even after a prolonged symptom-free period.