Oesophageal atresia (EA) and
tracheoesophageal fistula (TEF) is one of the congenital anomaly occurring in the newborns with the incidence of 1 in 2500 births seen worldwide. A retrospective review of newborns admitted to Hospital Sultanah Bahiyah (HSB) from 1st January 2000 to 31st December 2009 was done. The objective was to look at the influence of
birth weight, time of surgical intervention, presence of other congenital anomaly and presence of preoperative
pneumonia to the immediate outcome (mortality) of the surgery. There were 47 patients with oesophageal atresia, out of which 26 (55%) were males and 21 (45%) females. The distribution of patients by race were 34 Malays (72%), 9 Chinese (19%) and 4 Indians (9%). The
birth weight of the babies range from 0.8 kg to 4.0 kg and there was a significant association with the outcome of the surgery (p< 0.05). Most of the babies (20) were operated within 24 hours of presentation but there was no significant association to the outcome. 23 (49%) of them were born with congenital malformation and there was a significant association with the outcome of the surgery (p<0.05). Based on the chest roentgenogram, 20 (43%) of them had
pneumonia with significant association with the outcome (p<0.05). The mortality rate
is 23% and the causes of death were
pneumonia (36%),
renal failure (18%), cardiac malformation (18%) and multiple congenital malformations (28%). The outcome of EA and TEF is determined mainly by
birth weight, congenital malformations and presence of preoperative
pneumonia in HSB.