| [ Summary ] |
Congenital stenosis of the duodenum, considered to be a fetal abnormality, is classified into three types: membranous stenosis, stenosis due to blind ends and stenosis due to disconnected blind ends. Among the many theories about the pathogenesis of this condition, disturbances of duodenal recanolization are considered to be most likely. Because of the existence of a membranous septum, initial symptoms in many cases are repeated vomitting, accompanied by dehydration one week after birth or within the first two or three years of life. Plain abdominal X-rays show a remarkable dilatation of the stomach and the duodenum. The specific findings of upper GI series conducted on patients with this disease are barium accumulations at the septum, with the dilatation of the stomach and the duodenum. Surgical removal of the septum is the most feasible procedure for treatment of this disease, but recently endoscopic incision of the septum has been in dicated for adult patients. Although in cases occurring in neonatal period, the prognosis is different, according to operative risks, a good prognosis with no postoperative complications is expected in cases occurring in adult hood. |