RECTAL ATRESIA - PATHOGENESIS AND OPERATIVE TREATMENT

Rectal atresia (RA) with a normal anus is a rare anomaly mostly descri bed as part of a series of anorectal malformations. Most authors belie ve it to be an acquired lesion with a vascular genesis. One of the arg uments quoted is the lack of other congenital anomalies. Several opera tive procedures are recommended for this lesion. We describe four pati ents with RA who had other significant congenital anomalies; two other cases were found in the literature. A lack of other congenital anomal ies in patients with RA does not seem to be a strong argument for an a cquired lesion, All four patients were treated by a posterior sagittal approach with good functional results.