This site is intended for healthcare professionals

Go to /sign-in page

You can view 5 more pages before signing in

Aetiology

Last reviewed dd mmm yyyy. Last edited dd mmm yyyy

Authoring team

This condition usually develops in the first three to six weeks of life. It appears to be inherited in a multifactorial manner and is commonest in first-born, male children. There are associations with Turner's syndrome, oesophageal atresia and phenylketonuria.

Failure of the pyloric sphincter to relax may produce an intense work hypertrophy of the adjacent pyloric muscle.

Pyloric stenosis has been correlated with a deficiency in nitric oxide synthase in the myenteric plexus. It is thought that nitric oxide is essential for relaxation of the muscle (1).

Reference:

  • Vanderwinden, J.M. et al (1992). Nitric oxide synthase activity in infantile hypertrophic pyloric stenosis. NEJM, 327(8), 511-5

Related pages

Create an account to add page annotations

Add information to this page that would be handy to have on hand during a consultation, such as a web address or phone number. This information will always be displayed when you visit this page