1 Southern California Permanente Medical Group, 1050 West Pacific Coast Highway Harbor City, California 90710
Der Kaloustian et al.1 have recently added to the pedigree of their interesting family with familial duodenal atresia.2.3 The same author(s) have reported a family with jejunal atresia4 and another family with multiple levels of intestinal atresias.5
There appear to be at least two methods of monitoring future pregnancies in a family with an index case of intestinal atresia. One would be to await the development of polyhydramnios and to introduce Urografin by amniotic puncture after the 30th week of gestation by the method of White and Stewart;6 The presence or absence of contrast media in the fetal bowel is assessed 24 hours later.