Reports late-onset duodenal atresia presenting with anemia and vomiting in an 11-year-old girl, highlighting risks of misdiagnosing congenital bowel obstructions as functional disorders.
Duodenal atresia (AD) is a congenital malformation characterised by complete or incomplete intrinsic obstruction of the duodenum. Prenatal diagnosis is often possible. Type 1 AD, according to the Gray-Skandalakis classification, consists of transverse membrane inside the duodenum, composed of mucosa and submucosa, associated with dilated proximal duodenum with thickened wall and narrowed distal duodenum, which may appear fenestrated, with partial obstruction. These patients may experience delayed and more nuanced symptoms that may lead to unrecognized diagnosis for a long time. The paper presents a case of an 11-year-old girl, with anaemia and vomiting as warning signals of the underlying pathology, in which the disease was misdiagnosed as a psychosomatic functional disorder.
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Allegra et al. (2025) studied this question.
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