Fistula
A fistula (plural: fistulae) is an abnormal connection between two epithelial surfaces such as between hollow organs, skin or vessels. Conventionally, the name of a specific fistula type is a combination of the two organs
For discussions of specific fistulae please refer to individual articles.
Pathology
Etiology
A wide variety of etiologies are implicated:
- congenital
- acquired
-
iatrogenic
- surgical
- sometimes the fistula creation is deliberate, e.g. mucous fistula
- radiation therapy
- surgical
- post inflammatory e.g. Crohn disease, pancreatitis, diverticulitis
- infection
- post-traumatic
- secondary to a foreign body
- malignancy
-
iatrogenic
Types
Various types of fistula have been described:
- GIT
- vascular
- breast
- urogenital
- pulmonary
History and etymology
From the Latin, fistula means tube or pipe 1.
Related Radiopaedia articles
Terms used in radiology
- general
- ancillary
- artifact
- corner of the film
- diagnosis of exclusion
- epiphenomenon
- filling defect
- forme fruste
- gamut
- geographic
- gold standard
- heterogeneous vs heterogenous
- iatrogenic
- idiopathic
- incidentaloma
- in extremis
- natural history
- non-specific
- prodrome
- protean
- self-limiting
- sequela
- serpiginous
- sine qua non
- subclinical disease
- syndrome
- pathology
- CNS
- chest
- epidemiology
- gastrointestinal
- genetics
- musculoskeletal
- oncology