Tracheoesophageal fistula

Tracheoesophageal fistula (TEF) is an anomalous communication between trachea and esophagus. It can be either congenital or acquired. Although, congenital TEFs are usually associated with esophageal atresia, acquired TEFs may have wide range of causes including foreign body aspiration, malignancy and irradiation. The diagnosis of TEF is challenging and requires high index of suspicion in patients with atypical symptoms. The treatment of TEF is surgical and depends on the anatomical localization. Despite the precautionary measures, the frequency of recurrence after TEF is high, and some patients require repeated surgical treatment. Therefore, endoscopic methods have been developed to avoid surgical morbidity. This special series focused on different aspects of TEF in both children and adults. Current treatment alternatives for different causes of TEF and solutions of challenging conditions are addressed by the well-known experts. It is hoped that this special series will be a guide for all physicians dealing with TEF in children and adults.

Acknowledgments

Funding: None.

Footnote

Provenance and Peer Review: This article was commissioned by the editorial office, Current Challenges in Thoracic Surgery for the series “Tracheoesophageal Fistula”. The article did not undergo external peer review.

Conflicts of Interest: The author has completed the ICMJE uniform disclosure form (available at https://ccts.amegroups.com/article/view/10.21037/ccts-21-34/coif). The series “Tracheoesophageal Fistula” was commissioned by the editorial office without any funding or sponsorship. TS served as the unpaid Guest Editor of the series, and serves as an unpaid editorial board member of Current Challenges in Thoracic Surgery from March 2020 to February 2022. The author has no other conflicts of interest to declare.

Ethical Statement: The author is accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.

Open Access Statement: This is an Open Access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0), which permits the non-commercial replication and distribution of the article with the strict proviso that no changes or edits are made and the original work is properly cited (including links to both the formal publication through the relevant DOI and the license). See: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/.

Tutku Soyer