Does presence of a VACTERL anomaly predict an associated gynecologic anomaly in females with anorectal malformations? JPS article

Hi, I'm Ellen Esco with Cincinnati Children's, and here's an article you should know about. Here, the authors wanted to know if a veal anomaly predicted an associated gynecologic anomaly in pediatric females with anorectal malformations. Using the database from the pediatric Colorectal and Pelvic Learning Consortium, they looked at 384 females with interectal malformations. They found that about 27% of the patients had a gynecologic anomaly, and about 46% of them had the veal association, meaning that in addition to the anorectal malformation, they also had two of a vertebral, cardiac, tracheoesophageal, renal, or limb anomaly. When comparing patients who had a veal association to those who didn't, they found that having the Vacty association was associated with more gynecologic anomalies. This was especially true when renal anomalies were found and when patients had recto vestibular or recto perineal fistulas. So for females with anorectal malformations and veal association, especially renal anomalies, we should look carefully for gynecologic anomalies. Click the link below to read the article and let us know what you think.