Multislice computed tomography and virtual bronchoscopy diagnosis of interbronchial fistula

Abstract

Although tuberculosis is a rather common disease in the Indian subcontinent, tracheobronchial involvement in tuberculosis is still rare. Fistula formation between bronchi is very rare considering that only four cases have been published in the English literature. We present a case of multislice computed tomography (CT) and virtual bronchoscopy diagnosis of interbronchial fistula in a patient with tuberculosis along with a review of literature of the same. This happens to be the smallest of the interbronchial fistula identified on imaging so far and the first case from the Indian subcontinent. This is also the first instance where the diagnosis appears to have been made using only multislice CT generated virtual bronchoscopy without the aid of fiber optic bronchoscopy.