Background: The aim of the present national prospective population-based study was to assess the early morbidity of esophageal atresia (EA).
Methods: All 38 multidisciplinary French centers that care for patients with EA returned a specific questionnaire about the 1-year outcome for each patient. This information was centralized, checked, and entered into a database.
Results: From the total population of 307 EA patients born in 2008 and 2009, data about the 1-year outcome were obtained from 301 (98%) patients, of whom 4% were lost to follow-up and 5% died. Medical complications occurred in 34% of the patients: anastomotic leaks (8%), recurrent tracheoesophageal fistula (4%), and anastomotic stenosis (22%); all of the latter group needed dilation (median, 2 dilations/patient). A new hospitalization was required for 59% of patients (2.5 hospitalizations/patient) for digestive (52%) or respiratory (48%) reasons. Twelve percent of patients required antireflux surgery at a median age of 164 days (range, 33-398 days), and 1% underwent an aortopexy for severe tracheomalacia. The weight/age Z-score was -0.8 (range, -5.5 to 3.7 months) at 12 months. Fifteen percent of patients were undernourished at 12 months of age, whereas 37% presented with respiratory symptoms and 15% had dysphagia at the last follow-up. Significant independent factors associated with medical complications were anastomotic esophageal tension (p = .0009) and presence of a gastrostomy (p = .0002); exclusive oral feeding at discharge was associated with a decreased risk of complications (p = .007).
Conclusions: Digestive and respiratory morbidities remain frequent during the first year of life and are associated with difficult anastomosis and lack of full oral feeding.