Anatomy and embryology of tracheo-esophageal fistula

摘要

Anomalies in tracheo-esophageal development result in a spectrum of congenital malformations rang-ing from, most commonly, esophageal atresia with or without trachea-esophageal fistula (EA + /-TEF) to esophageal web, duplication, stricture, tracheomalacia and tracheal agenesis. Despite the relative fre-quency of EA, however, the underlying etiology remains unknown and is likely due to a combination of genetic, epigenetic and environmental factors. In recent years, animal models have dramatically in-creased our understanding of the molecular and morphological processes involved in normal esophageal development during the key stages of anterior-posterior regionalization, dorsal-ventral patterning and morphogenic separation. Moreover, the use of animal models in conjunction with increasingly advanced techniques such as genomic sequencing, sophisticated live imaging studies and organoid models have more recently cast light on potential mechanisms involved in EA pathogenesis. This article aims to un-ravel some of the mysteries behind the anatomy and embryology of EA whilst providing insights into future directions for research. (c) 2022 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. This is an open access article under the CC BY license ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ )