Bhattarai et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License CC-BY 4.0., which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Upper gastrointestinal bleeding is a rare presentation of the aortoesophageal fistula (AEF) and is usually caused by thoracic aortic aneurysms. We present the case of a 61-year-old male who presented with chest pain and hematemesis. A chest X-ray showed a widened mediastinum. The patient underwent computed tomography angiography (CTA), which showed the presence of a large aneurysm in the aorta, which caused compression of the trachea, esophagus, and left pulmonary artery. Additionally, there was evidence of an AEF. It was decided to perform an emergency surgical intervention on the patient. However, the patient had multiple episodes of hematemesis and expired.
Spontaneous pneumomediastinum (SPM) refers to the presence of air in the mediastinum without any obvious cause. It is an uncommon condition occurring due to alveolar rupture as a result of increased intrathoracic pressure. It is commonly seen in young males, patients with known asthmatic disorders and pulmonary diseases. We report a rare case of SPM in a young healthy male without any significant past history. The patient was managed conservatively and discharged.
Subcutaneous emphysema refers to the presence of air in the subcutaneous planes of the body. It may result from a benign cause like trauma, accidental injection, or entry of air through a negative pressure gradient, or it could be a part of the life-threatening ailment in the form of necrotizing fasciitis with gas gangrene. We report a 31-year-old male who sustained trauma to the hand followed by pressurized air injection into the wound resulting in the subcutaneous emphysema of the left upper limb. Imaging studies confirmed the presence of subcutaneous emphysema. The patient was managed conservatively with limb immobilization. Being rarely reported in the medical literature, we aim to improve the awareness of such a condition and beware of impending complications.
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