Fatal hematemesis occurred in a 3-month-old boy due to erosion by a nasogastric tube into the right component of an unrecognized double aortic arch. This is the youngest of six reported patients with arterioesophageal fistula in the literature. Including this patient, five of six had nasogastric tubes in place. The tube may have led to fistula formation by compression of the esophageal wall against an anomalous vessel. When a vascular ring is suspected, indwelling esophageal tubes such as nasogastric tubes should not be used.

The medical records of 52 children with biliary atresia treated by portoenterostomy and evaluated for liver transplantation were reviewed to determine the frequency of stoma variceal bleeding and the optimal strategies for prevention and treatment. Eighteen patients had had prior stoma closure, four by preperitoneal closure without takedown from the abdominal wall. Three of the four developed occult variceal bleeding from the stoma closure site. Twenty-two patients had a stoma present at evaluation. All 22 patients with stomas (100%) had at least one bleeding episode requiring transfusion. Treatment included transfusion and local pressure (9), suture ligation of the bleeding site (5), and stoma closure and/or takedown (11). Local treatment led to recurrences in eight of 14 (57%) of the cases. To reduce the high mortality in patients with biliary atresia awaiting liver transplantation, multiple variceal bleeding episodes should be prevented. To eliminate one source, stoma variceal bleeding, the stoma, whether functioning or nonfunctioning should be taken down and closed. Preperitoneal closure alone does not prevent stoma bleeding.