Table 1 Characteristics of patients with radiotherapy-related esophageal fistula
Characteristics | Training cohort | Validation cohort | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
N | % | N | % | |
Age (years), mean ± SD | 61.8 ± 8.9 | 60.2 ± 10.7 | ||
ECOG PS | ||||
≤ 2 | 94 | 69.1 | 32 | 68.1 |
≥ 3 | 42 | 30.9 | 15 | 31.9 |
T stage | ||||
T1–3 | 85 | 62.5 | 34 | 72.3 |
T4 | 51 | 37.5 | 13 | 27.7 |
N stage | ||||
N0–1 | 69 | 50.7 | 20 | 42.6 |
N2–3 | 67 | 49.3 | 27 | 57.4 |
Stage | ||||
I | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
II | 14 | 10.3 | 5 | 10.6 |
III | 91 | 66.9 | 29 | 61.7 |
IV | 31 | 22.8 | 13 | 27.7 |
Chemotherapy | ||||
Yes | 98 | 72.1 | 33 | 70.2 |
No | 38 | 27.9 | 14 | 29.8 |
Re-radiotherapy | ||||
Yes | 25 | 18.4 | 6 | 12.8 |
No | 111 | 81.6 | 41 | 87.2 |
Single dose of radiation (Gy) | ||||
≤ 2 | 129 | 4.9 | 7 | 0.0 |
> 2 | 7 | 5.1 | 0 | 0 |
Total dose (patients who finished the radiotherapy) | ||||
≥ 60Gy | 58 | 57.4 | 39 | 88.6 |
≥ 50 < 60Gy | 34 | 33.7 | 2 | 4.6 |
< 50Gy | 9 | 8.9 | 3 | 6.8 |
Diagnostic tool | ||||
CT | 76 | 55.9 | 12 | 25.5 |
Esophagogram | 59 | 43.4 | 25 | 53.2 |
Endoscopic | 1 | 0.7 | 10 | 21.3 |
Occurrence time | ||||
During radiotherapy | 35 | 25.7 | 3 | 6.4 |
After radiotherapy | 101 | 74.3 | 44 | 93.6 |
Median time between the end of radiotherapy and fistula (month) | 4.5 | 5.5 | ||
Fistula type | ||||
Esophageal-respiratory | 67 | 49.3 | 40 | 85.1 |
Esophageal-mediastinum | 66 | 48.5 | 4 | 8.5 |
Esophagopleural fistula | 2 | 1.5 | 1 | 2.1 |
Both esophageal-respiratory and esophageal-mediastinum fistula. | 1 | 0.7 | 2 | 4.3 |
Therapy | ||||
Conservative treatment | 31 | 22.8 | 8 | 17.0 |
Esophageal stent | 31 | 22.8 | 30 | 63.8 |
Nutrient canal | 36 | 26.5 | 5 | 10.6 |
Gastrostomy | 15 | 11.0 | 2 | 4.3 |
Radical resection | 2 | 1.5 | 0 | 0 |
Others | 21 | 15.4 | 2 | 4.3 |