Aortogastric fistula from hiatal hernia ulcer. A cause of massive upper gastrointestinal bleeding

An 83-year-old woman with no history of vascular surgery presented with a fatal upper gastrointestinal bleed from an aortogastric fistula secondary to a penetrating gastric ulcer. The fistula was between the thoracic aorta and the gastric ulcer in a hiatus hernia. On autopsy, a discrete 1-cm ulcer had perforated into the otherwise normal thoracic aorta. Aortogastric fistula involving the thoracic aorta and a gastric ulcer is rare in the absence of vascular graft surgery or aneurysm. We review the pertinent literature.