The baby is often described as frothy - secondary to air flowing into the oesophagus.
There is a high incidence of aspiration pneumonia, caused by spill over of milk via the fistula.
Abdominal distension may be present if there is a connection between the oesophagus, trachea and stomach.
The most insidious type is the H-type, which can be very difficult to diagnose and may be missed on repeated examinations. Babies with this rarer form of H-type fistula may go undetected until later in life when they present with recurrent episodes of aspiration pneumonia, feeding difficulties or chronic cough.
Reference
Annotations allow you to add information to this page that would be handy to have on hand during a consultation. E.g. a website or number. This information will always show when you visit this page.