[Respiratory malformations associated with esophageal atresia].
OBJECTIVE
Since trachea, lungs and esophagus develop from foregut and esophageal atresia is a defect of its normal division, we examined the occurrence of respiratory malformations in a large clinical series of esophageal atresia.


METHODS
The records of 415 patients born with esophageal atresia between 1965 and 1996 and 129 autopsies of the same patients were retrospectively reviewed. The presence of other associated anomalies was carefully studied and noted.


RESULTS
Of 415 patients with esophageal atresia, 25 (6%) had one or more associated respiratory malformations. Only 8 patients (2.8%) having bronchopulmonary malformations were diagnosed clinically (8/286) while 17 (13.2%) were diagnosed at autopsy (17/129). The most frequent malformations were: lung segmentation defects (n = 14), pulmonary hypoplasia (n = 9) and tracheomalacia (n = 4). Eighty percent of esophageal atresia patients had another associated malformations specially of the cardiovascular system.


CONCLUSIONS
Esophageal atresia patients have a high incidence of associated bronchopulmonary malformations that are frequently not diagnosed.
Montedonico
S
S
Departamento de Cirugía Pediátrica, Hospital Infantil La Paz, Madrid.
Díez-Pardo
J A
JA
Lassaletta
L
L
Tovar
J A
JA
D000293:Adolescent; D001344:Autopsy; D002648:Child; D004933:Esophageal Atresia / Q000150:complications*; D005260:Female; D006330:Heart Defects, Congenital / Q000150:complications; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008168:Lung / Q000002:abnormalities; D008297:Male; D015619:Respiratory System Abnormalities / Q000150:complications*; D014132:Trachea / Q000002:abnormalities