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Purpose: Esophageal atresia (EA) and tracheoesophageal fistula (TEF) are rare anomalies in neonates that must be surgically repaired by esophageal reconstruction with or without ligation of the fistula. Recurrent tracheoesophageal fistula (rTEF) occurs in 3-15% of primary surgical repairs in esophageal atresia; it is associated with recurrent hospital admissions and up to 27% short term mortality. Dependable reparation very often proves difficult by standard surgical techniques. Using oesophageal fully covered self-expandable metal stents in adult patients yields a 50% efficacy and other endoscopic techniques such as occlusion by clips or glue show no better results. A minimally invasive alternative is the use of vascular plug septal occluders. We report the efficacy of endoscopic placement of a cardiac septal occluder (CSO) in a paediatric patient. Clinical case: A 12-year-old female with recurrent (rTEF) and refractory tracheoesophageal fistula (refTEF) was subjected to an refTEF closure procedure via endoscopic placement of a cardiac septal occlusion device. Conclusion: Debate regarding the gold standard of rTEF treatment closure a hot debate but flexible endoscopy is an accepted alternative. This report describes the successful fixing of a refTEF using a cardiac septal occluder. After four weeks follow up, no re-incidence of the tracheoesophageal fistula was detected. The results advocate for the endoscopic closure of refractory tracheoesophageal fistula with cardiac occluders in children thus establishing a promising therapeutical alternative in refTEF in paediatric population patients.
Alfredo et al. (Sun,) studied this question.