RESUMEN
Acquired arteriovenous fistulas occur more frequently after gunshot or stab wounds. These may also be produced after nephrectomy or laminectomy. We describe a patient with a traumatic arteriovenous fistula that presented with high cardiac output following a gunshot wound. The patient was severely symptomatic and presented in severe biventricular heart failure. He was wasted and had the physical features of high cardiac output heart failure. A faint continuous murmur was detected all over the abdominal region. Echocardiography revealed four dilated cardiac chambers and mildly impaired and dilated left ventricular function. The resting cardiac index measured 13.5 L/min and the filling pressures were elevated in both ventricles. A fistula between the left iliac vein and artery was diagnosed by angiography and surgically repaired. At follow-up the patient became asymptomatic and the left ventricular size normalized