WHAT ARE THE ODDS?

What are the odds?  In this case, about 1 in 10,000...

"Choanal atresia is a rare condition and affects about one in every 10,000 births. It is slightly more common in girls than boys."

For comparison:

Down syndrome remains the most common chromosomal condition diagnosed in the United States. Each year, about 6,000 babies born in the United States have Down syndrome. This means that Down syndrome occurs in about 1 in every 700 babies.

Let me explain.  In a previous post, I explained that during Jonah's tonsil removal surgery, the ENT found that Jonah had unilateral choanal atresia or blockage of one side of his side of his nose.

Just a few weeks ago, Jonah had a CT scan as ordered by the ENT in order to look further into this blockage.  The CT scan confirmed the diagnosis- his blockage is part bone and part tissue.

Last week I was able to talk to the ENT about these findings.  Here is the scoop:

1. Because of finding this blockage, ENT thinks that while the removal of tonsils may improve Jonah's sleep apnea, it will not eliminate it.  The plan is to have another sleep study in June to see what level the sleep apnea is at this point.  I can tell you unofficially that Jonah is back to snoring at night...

2. Depending on the results of that sleep study, the ENT will figure out the extent of surgery that needs to be done besides just opening the blocked nasal passageway because of the choanal atresia.  But it sounds like, from the ENT's opinion, that passageway needs to get unblocked for other reasons besides just its effect on the sleep apnea.  

3.  The ENT said he was very surprised this condition was not found earlier with Jonah.  Most babies with this condition, even unilateral (only one side of the nose), tend to have breathing and feeding issues.  The thing is Jonah did have feeding and breathing issues in his early months.  It's just that he had other conditions that doctors felt were causing those issues: laryngomalacia (floppy throat tissue), reactive airway disease, and atelectasis (similar to scar tissue) of the lung because of pneumonia.  Anyway, the takeaway I got from the ENT was he was quite impressed with how tough Jonah must be that this blockage wasn't found until age 13.  

Jonah is quite a kid...in many ways.