Preoperative Tracheoscopy for Esophageal Atresia and/or Congenital Esoaerian Fistula: Experience at Cliniques Universitaires Saint Luc in Brussels

Abstract

Introduction: Congenital septal anomalies between the trachea and the esophagus are rare conditions. It seemed to us interesting to recall the contribution of tracheoscopy in the diagnostic and therapeutic strategy of esophageal atresia and congenital esoaerian fistulas. Patients and methods: This is a retrospective study between June 1994 and June 2014 of children who underwent a tracheoscopy, at the Saint-Luc University Clinics in Brussels, the diagnostic set of esophageal atresia (EA) or a congenital esoaerian fistula was suspected. Results: A total of 43 children with esophageal atresia or congenital esoaerian fistula underwent tracheoscopy. Before the tracheoscopy, the diagnosis of the anatomical type of atresia of the esophagus and esoaerian fistula was as follows: type C, 34 (79.1%); type A, 4 (9.3%); type E, 5 (11.6%). After performing the tracheoscopy, the diagnosis was changed as follows: type C, 34 (79.1%); type A, 3 (7%); type E, 4 (9.3%); type B, 1 (2.3%), a patient with a tracheoesophageal laryngo cleft (2.3%). Tracheoscopy also made it possible to find 2 cases of tracheomalacia, 2 cases with 3 bronchial tubes and one case associating a diverticulum of the trachea. No complications were correlated with the performance of the tracheoscopy. Conclusion: Our study confirms the benefits of tracheoscopy in the laden price of esophageal atresia or congenital esoaerian fistula.