Congenital atresia of the esophagus is a rare anomaly. The experience of any one physician with this condition is necessarily limited. The literature on the subject is large, but most of the articles deal with a few individual cases plus a review of previously reported cases. The total number of reported cases is now about 300. In the past eleven years, 32 cases of congenital atresia of the esophagus have been observed in the surgical service of the Children's Hospital. Thirty patients were submitted to operation, and complete autopsy was performed on the other 2 patients. In the 30 operative cases the surgical findings were supplemented by complete postmortem examination in 22 instances. Cases observed in this hospital before 1929 are not considered here. Their inclusion would not change significantly the statistical data, and it is only since 1929 that a discussion of the forms of surgical treatment has been