Related Experiment Videos
Descriptive epidemiology of alimentary tract atresia
Insights
Infants with alimentary tract atresia, including esophageal, gut, and anal atresia, show varied epidemiological traits. Early disturbances in intestinal development likely cause a significant portion of these congenital malformations.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Surgery
- Medical Genetics
- Epidemiology
Background:
- Alimentary tract atresia encompasses esophageal, small and large gut, and anal atresia, representing significant congenital malformations in infants.
- Epidemiological data on these conditions are crucial for understanding their occurrence and potential causes.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the epidemiological characteristics of infants diagnosed with alimentary tract atresia.
- To analyze racial differences, co-occurrence of atresia types, and associations with other factors like maternal age and chromosomal anomalies.
Main Methods:
- Utilized data from three malformation registries, covering over 4.5 million births.
- Identified 3,550 infants with alimentary atresia and analyzed epidemiological variables including sex ratio, twinning, maternal factors, and associated malformations.
Main Results:
- The overall rate of alimentary atresia was approximately 8 per 10,000 births, with 4.7% of infants having multiple atresia types.
- Observed racial disparities: higher rates of esophageal atresia in whites and gastrointestinal atresia in Black infants.
- Found variations in registered rates between programs, partly due to ascertainment differences.
Conclusions:
- A significant proportion of alimentary atresia cases are attributed to early disturbances in intestinal morphogenesis.
- While shared mechanisms exist, distinct etiologies likely contribute to the observed epidemiological differences within atresia subgroups.
Abstract:
A study has been made on certain epidemiological characteristics of infants with alimentary tract atresia: esophageal atresia, small and large gut atresia, and anal atresia. Data were collected from three malformation registries and represent a material of more than 4.5 million births. A total of 3,550 infants with alimentary atresia were identified corresponding to a total rate of about 8 per 10,000 births. In 167 infants (4.7%) more than one of the major atresia types were present simultaneously. Racial differences were found (based on data from California) for esophageal atresia where whites had a higher rate than other races. For gastrointestinal atresia, a high rate in blacks was found, while no differences between races were seen for anal atresia. Also, differences in registered rates between the three programs were found, at least partly explainable by different ascertainment. The different forms of atresia were compared from the point of view of sex ratio, twinning rate, maternal age and parity distribution, presence of chromosome anomalies, and types of associated malformations. The pathogenesis and etiology of the various types of atresia are discussed based on these observations. The conclusion is that although undoubtedly other pathogenetic mechanisms may exist for gastrointestinal atresia, a substantial proportion of all infants with alimentary atresia had their malformations as a result of early disturbances of intestinal morphogenesis. Within each subgroup, apparently different etiologies may exist, resulting in differences in epidemiological characteristics.