Infantile hypertrophic pyloric stenosis in parent and child.

In a recent report, Carter and Powell (1954) recorded 12 examples of pyloric stenosis in parent and child, and drew attention to the increased risk of the disease in offspring of parents who were themselves affected. In examining their observations we noted that the risk to the child seemed to be greater if the affected parent was the mother; but the number of cases was small, and the matter evidently required investigation in a larger series. Nielsen (1954) has since recorded nine examples of pyloric stenosis in parent and child, to which we have been able to add a further 12. The results support the conclusion that the risk is raised in children of affected parents, and suggest that it is much higher if the affected parent is the mother.