Role of the Esophagus in Surgery for Tracheal Agenesis

 

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Introduction

Tracheal agenesis (TA) is a rare congenital anomaly. Around 150 cases have been reported in the literature to date [1]. Its diagnosis and surgical treatment pose a challenge for surgeons, and the problem of airway access makes this condition almost uniformly fatal. This report describes a case of complete TA in which the middle part of the esophagus was used as a substitute for the airway, the proximal part for pharyngeal drainage and the distal to provide access to deliver feeds into the stomach.

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Correspondence

Prof. V. BhatnagarMBBS, MS, MCh 

All India Institute of Medical Sciences

Pediatric Surgery

Ansari Nagar

110029 New Delhi

India

Phone: +91 11 265 93309

Fax: +91 11 265 88663

Email: veereshwarb@hotmail.com