ABSTRACT
The first description of esophageal atresia is credited to Durston who, in 1670, described esophageal atresia in one of a pair of conjoined twins. Thomas Gibson in 1697 accurately described the clinical features of esophageal atresia. In 1913, Richter proposed a plan of management, which comprised dividing the tracheoesophageal fistula (TEF) and feeding the infant by gastrostomy until the ‘technical difficulties of an esophageal anastomosis’ had been overcome. Ladd and Leven were independently the first to achieve long-term survival in 1939, but only by a staged approach. Haight in 1941 is credited with the first successful primary anastomosis.
