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Start free with EleplanChoanal atresia
ORPHA:137914Morphological anomaly
What it is
Choanal atresia (CA) is a congenital anomaly of the posterior nasal airway characterized by the obstruction of one (unilateral) or both (bilateral) choanal aperture(s), with clinical manifestations ranging from acute respiratory distress to chronic nasal obstruction.
Key facts
- Prevalence
- 1-9 / 100 000 (Europe)
- Age of onset
- Childhood, Infancy, Neonatal
- Inheritance
- Not applicable
- Classified as
- Morphological anomaly
Prevalence figures describe populations, not individuals, and are often estimates from a single study. Where the figure is an incidence or a birth prevalence, it says so.
Signs and symptoms
Sometimes5–29%
12- Choking episodes
- Craniosynostosis
- Cyanosis
- Feeding difficulties
- Inappropriate crying
- Laryngomalacia
- Mandibulofacial dysostosis
- Recurrent respiratory infections
and 4 more in this range
These ranges are how often a sign appears across everyone diagnosed, not a prediction for one person — most people have some of these and not others. Orphanet also records findings that are specifically absent in this disease; those are in the data but not listed here.
ICD-10 codes
ICD-10 has no distinct code for most rare diseases, so many are filed under the nearest available one. A shared code identifies the group, not this disease — the ORPHAcode above is what identifies it.
Cross-references
Orphadata Science: Free access data from Orphanet. © INSERM 1999. Data version 2026-06-23. Available under CC BY 4.0. This is a reference, not medical advice.
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