Repair and Complications of Esophageal Atresia and Tracheoesophageal Fistula

ESOPHAGEAL atresia and tracheoesophageal fistula are congenital anomalies that, until twenty years ago, had a very grave prognosis. Leven1 and Ladd,2 using a multiple-stage procedure, were among the first to repair the anomaly successfully, and Haight and Towsley3 performed the first successful primary anastomosis a short time later. The etiology, incidence and much other pertinent material have been reviewed by Haight.4 As summarized in Figure 1, there are five varieties of the anomaly in the following order of frequency: Type 1 consists of esophageal atresia with a fistula from the lower segment to the trachea; Type 2 has simple esophageal atresia . . .