After being informed about the study and its overall risks, parents will be given the option to enroll their infant. Participants (infants) with esophageal atresia and a gastrostomy tube will be given their own saliva through their gastrostomy tube, directly into the stomach. Samples of saliva and stool will be collected from these infants, and from a comparison group without esophageal atresia, as well as blood and urine to look for changes in immune responses and in metabolism.
The purpose of this study is to understand changes of the gut microbiome due to esophageal atresia. The intervention will be to give a patient his or her own saliva through their gastrostomy tube (directly into the stomach) to observe if this can normalize microbial colonization of the gut.