Esophageal Atresia and Tracheoesophageal Fistula

The esophagus is the tube that carries food and liquids from your mouth to your stomach. Esophageal atresia is a birth defect in which your baby is born with a narrow or closed-up esophagus, so food can’t get to the stomach.

Tracheoesophageal fistula is an opening between the esophagus and windpipe (trachea), so when the baby swallows, food goes into the baby's windpipe and lungs.

Babies usually have both problems.

• Doctors don’t know what causes esophageal atresia and tracheoesophageal fistula, but these problems often happen along with other birth defects

• Your baby coughs or chokes when trying to eat

• Doctors do surgery to fix the defects

Atresia and Fistula: Defects in the Esophagus

In esophageal atresia, the esophagus narrows or comes to a blind end. It does not connect with the stomach as it normally should. A tracheoesophageal fistula is an abnormal connection between the esophagus and the trachea (which leads to the lungs).

For esophageal atresia, symptoms include:

• Coughing, choking, and drooling when your baby feeds

Tracheoesophageal fistula is dangerous because swallowed food and saliva travel through the hole to your baby’s windpipe and lungs and cause:

• Coughing, choking, and trouble breathing

• Sometimes, a type of pneumonia (aspiration pneumonia)

• A blue tint to the baby's skin from low blood oxygen levels

Doctors may suspect these problems from a routine ultrasound during pregnancy. After birth they'll do tests such as:

• Pass a tube down your baby’s esophagus to see if it’s blocked off from the stomach

• X-rays of the neck and chest

Doctors do surgery to treat these problems. For esophageal atresia, they’ll create a connection between your baby’s esophagus and stomach. For tracheoesophageal fistula, they’ll close the connection between the esophagus and windpipe.