Although described more than two centuries ago, congenital choanal atresa remains an entity for which optimum treatment is not yet established. In a study of 29 cases of congenital choanal atresia during a 14-year period, 14 male and 15 female patients were diagnosed, in contrast with the 2:1 female-male ratio usually reported. Thirty-two operative procedures were performed on 16 surgically treated patients in the series. The two classes of surgical treatment, transpalatal and transnasal techniques, were marked by 66% and 73% recurrence rates, respectively, from 2 months to 6.5 years of follow-up. In previous studies, facial growth disturbances have been shown to result from transpalatal resection in the growing child, whereas transnasal techniques have been indicted as a cause of serious neurologic complications. Because no major morbidity resulted from 20 endonasal procedures in this series, early serial endonasal perforation is advocated as a means of establishing and maintaining a patent nasal airway until definitive transnasal repair can be performed when facial growth is more complete.
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