Definition

Esophageal atresia is a serious birth defect in which
the esophagus, the long tube that connects the mouth to
the stomach, is segmented and closed off at any point.
This condition usually occurs with tracheoesophageal
fistula, a condition in which the esophagus is improperly
attached to the trachea, the nearby tube that connects the
nasal area to the lungs. Esophageal atresia occurs in
approximately 1 in 4,000 live births.

Description

Failure of an unborn child (fetus) to develop properly
results in birth defects. Many of these defects involve
organs that do not function, or function only incidentally,
before birth, and, as a result, go undetected until the baby
is born. In this case, the digestive tract is unnecessary for
fetal growth, since all nutrition comes from the mother
through the placenta and umbilical cord.

During fetal development, the esophagus and the trachea
arise from the same original tissue. Normally, the
two tubes would form separately (differentiate); however,
in cases of esphageal atresia and tracheoesophageal
fistulas, they do not, resulting in various malformed configurations.
The most common configuration is the