Congenital Duodenal Atresia in Four Sibs

Abstract

TO DATE it has not been possible to find a report of the familial occurrence of duodenal atresia in the pediatric or genetic literature. It is the purpose of this communication to present four premature infant sibs with this defect. This striking finding of identical duodenal atresias in a sibship suggests a genetic basis. Some of the problems encountered in understanding the etiological mechanisms of this anomaly are briefly commented on. Report of a Case A premature infant girl was born of Greek parents on March 22, 1963. Since family history indicated bowel obstruction at birth among sibs, the patient was seen immediately after birth by a pediatrician. A No. 8 French catheter was passed into the stomach with ease and bilecontaining fluid was obtained. An x-ray study of the abdomen taken three hours after birth revealed a large gastric air bubble and dilatation of the first portion of the