Congenital Choanal Atresia and its Heredity

Abstract

The authors describe 16 cases of congenital choanal atresia treated in the period 1954-1963 in Helsinki University Otolaryngological Hospital. Of these patients 12 were female and 4 male. In 5 cases the atresia was bilateral, in 7 it was on the left and in 4 on the right side. A surprisingly high incidence of associated congenital abnormalities occurred in these patients. Similarly, the incidence of congenital abnormalities in the patients' family was surprisingly high. The authors assume that this may depend on the presence of a pleiotropic gene manifesting itself by the accumulation of various congenital malformations in these patients' family members.