Massive hemorrhage caused by major pulmonary vessel-cutaneous fistula in the late postoperative period: report of two cases.

Sudden life-threatening hemorrhage caused by erosion of the wall of a thoracic blood vessel such as the aorta, pulmonary artery, or pulmonary vein, in the late postoperative period is extremely rare and presents a challenging emergency. We report the cases of two patients whose only clinical manifestation was a hemorrhagic cutaneous chest wall fistula. Both patients were treated by emergency surgery. The diagnosis and management of this clinical entity requires a high index of suspicion and innovative therapeutic solutions.