Arteriotracheal fistula in patients treated for lymphoma.

Exsanguinating hemorrhage is an unusual cause of death in patients who are being treated for neoplasms. We report two cases of adolescents with mediastinal non-Hodgkin's lymphoma who each developed a fistula between the right brachiocephalic trunk and the trachea following mediastinal irradiation and systemic chemotherapy. During the hospital course, the patients had each suffered a respiratory arrest and undergone difficult endotracheal intubation. The tracheal ulcerations at the fistula sites were unsuspected prior to autopsy.