Project description:Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia (CDH) is defined by the presence of an orifice in the diaphragm, more often left and posterolateral that permits the herniation of abdominal contents into the thorax. The lungs are hypoplastic and have abnormal vessels that cause respiratory insufficiency and persistent pulmonary hypertension with high mortality. About one third of cases have cardiovascular malformations and lesser proportions have skeletal, neural, genitourinary, gastrointestinal or other defects. CDH can be a component of Pallister-Killian, Fryns, Ghersoni-Baruch, WAGR, Denys-Drash, Brachman-De Lange, Donnai-Barrow or Wolf-Hirschhorn syndromes. Some chromosomal anomalies involve CDH as well. The incidence is < 5 in 10,000 live-births. The etiology is unknown although clinical, genetic and experimental evidence points to disturbances in the retinoid-signaling pathway during organogenesis. Antenatal diagnosis is often made and this allows prenatal management (open correction of the hernia in the past and reversible fetoscopic tracheal obstruction nowadays) that may be indicated in cases with severe lung hypoplasia and grim prognosis. Treatment after birth requires all the refinements of critical care including extracorporeal membrane oxygenation prior to surgical correction. The best hospital series report 80% survival but it remains around 50% in population-based studies. Chronic respiratory tract disease, neurodevelopmental problems, neurosensorial hearing loss and gastroesophageal reflux are common problems in survivors. Much more research on several aspects of this severe condition is warranted.
Project description:Worldwide, 150 children are born each day with congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH), a diaphragmatic defect with concomitant abnormal lung development. Patients with CDH with large defects are particularly challenging to treat, have the highest mortality, and are at significant risk of long-term complications. Advances in prenatal and neonatal treatments have improved survival in high-risk patients with CDH, but surgical treatment of large defects lacks standardization. Open repair by an abdominal approach has long been considered the traditional procedure, but the type of defect repair (patch or muscle flap) and patch material (non-absorbable, synthetic or absorbable, biological) remain subjects of debate. Increased experience and improved techniques in minimally invasive surgery (MIS) have expanded selection criteria for thoracoscopic defect repair in cardiopulmonary stable patients with small defects. However, the application of MIS to repair large defects remains controversial due to increased recurrence rates and unknown long-term effects of perioperative hypercapnia and acidosis resulting from capnothorax and reduced ventilation. Current recommendations on the surgical management rely on cohort studies of varying patient numbers and data on the long-term outcomes are sparse. Here, we discuss surgical approaches for diaphragmatic defect repair highlighting advancements, and knowledge gaps in surgical techniques (open surgery and MIS), patch materials and muscle flaps for large defects, as well as procedural adjuncts and management of CDH variants.
Project description:Congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) is a relatively common major life-threatening birth defect that results in significant mortality and morbidity depending primarily on lung hypoplasia, persistent pulmonary hypertension, and cardiac dysfunction. Despite its clinical relevance, CDH multifactorial etiology is still not completely understood. We reviewed current knowledge on normal diaphragm development and summarized genetic mutations and related pathways as well as cellular mechanisms involved in CDH. Our literature analysis showed that the discovery of harmful de novo variants in the fetus could constitute an important tool for the medical team during pregnancy, counselling, and childbirth. A better insight into the mechanisms regulating diaphragm development and genetic causes leading to CDH appeared essential to the development of new therapeutic strategies and evidence-based genetic counselling to parents. Integrated sequencing, development, and bioinformatics strategies could direct future functional studies on CDH; could be applied to cohorts and consortia for CDH and other birth defects; and could pave the way for potential therapies by providing molecular targets for drug discovery.
Project description:Congenital Diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) is a condition characterized by a defect in the diaphragm leading to protrusion of abdominal contents into the thoracic cavity interfering with normal development of the lungs. The defect may range from a small aperture in the posterior muscle rim to complete absence of diaphragm. The pathophysiology of CDH is a combination of lung hypoplasia and immaturity associated with persistent pulmonary hypertension of newborn (PPHN) and cardiac dysfunction. Prenatal assessment of lung to head ratio (LHR) and position of the liver by ultrasound are used to diagnose and predict outcomes. Delivery of infants with CDH is recommended close to term gestation. Immediate management at birth includes bowel decompression, avoidance of mask ventilation and endotracheal tube placement if required. The main focus of management includes gentle ventilation, hemodynamic monitoring and treatment of pulmonary hypertension followed by surgery. Although inhaled nitric oxide is not approved by FDA for the treatment of PPHN induced by CDH, it is commonly used. Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) is typically considered after failure of conventional medical management for infants ≥ 34 weeks' gestation or with weight >2 kg with CDH and no associated major lethal anomalies. Multiple factors such as prematurity, associated abnormalities, severity of PPHN, type of repair and need for ECMO can affect the survival of an infant with CDH. With advances in the management of CDH, the overall survival has improved and has been reported to be 70-90% in non-ECMO infants and up to 50% in infants who undergo ECMO.
Project description:The consequences of most hernias can be immediately corrected by surgical repair. However, this isn't always the case for children born with a congenital diaphragmatic hernia. The derangements in physiology encountered immediately after birth result from pulmonary hypoplasia and hypertension caused by herniation of abdominal contents into the chest early in lung development. This degree of physiologic compromise can vary from mild to severe. Postnatal management of these children remains controversial. Although heavily studied, multi-institutional randomized controlled trials are lacking to help determine what constitutes best practice. Additionally, the results of the many studies currently within the literature that have investigated differing aspect of care (i.e., inhaled nitric oxide, ventilator type, timing of repair, role of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, etc.) are difficult to interpret due to the small numbers investigated, the varying degree of physiologic compromise, and the contrasting care that exists between institutions. The aim of this paper is to review areas of controversy in the care of these complex kids, mainly: the use of fraction of inspired oxygen, surfactant therapy, gentle ventilation, mode of ventilation, medical management of pulmonary hypertension (inhaled nitric oxide, sildenafil, milrinone, bosentan, prostaglandins), the utilization of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, and the timing of surgical repair.
Project description:Analysis of embronic day 30.5 (E30.5) fetal rabbit left lung after creation of diapragmatic hernia (DH) at E25 and tracheal occlusion (TO) at E27. The fetuses of timed pregnant New Zealand rabbits were subjected to creation of a left diaphragmatic hernia at E25 with or without tracheal occlusion at E27. At E30.5, the fetuses were sacrificed with collection of the lateral aspect of the left upper lobe for NextGen mRNA sequencing.
Project description:Congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) is a relatively common birth defect associated with high mortality and morbidity. Although the exact etiology of most cases of CDH remains unknown, there is a growing body of evidence that genetic factors play an important role in the development of CDH. In this review, we examine key findings that are likely to form the basis for future research in this field. Specific topics include a short overview of normal and abnormal diaphragm development, a discussion of syndromic forms of CDH, a detailed review of chromosomal regions recurrently altered in CDH, a description of the retinoid hypothesis of CDH, and evidence of the roles of specific genes in the development of CDH.
Project description:Congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) is a moderately prevalent birth defect that, despite advances in neonatal care, is still a significant cause of infant death, and surviving patients have significant morbidity. The goal of ongoing research to elucidate the genetic causes of CDH is to develop better treatment and ultimately prevention. CDH is a complex developmental defect that is etiologically heterogeneous. This review summarizes the recurrent genetic causes of CDH including aneuploidies, chromosome copy number variants, and single gene mutations. It also discusses strategies for genetic evaluation and genetic counseling in an era of rapidly evolving technologies in clinical genetic diagnostics.
Project description:ObjectiveCongenital Diaphragmatic Hernia (CDH) associated with hydrops is rare. The aim of this study was to describe the incidence of this combination of anomalies and the postnatal outcomes from a large database for CDH.Study designData from the multicenter, multinational database on infants with prenatally diagnosed CDH (CDHSG Registry) born from 2015 to 2021 were analyzed.ResultsA total of 3985 patients were entered in the registry during the study period, 3156 were prenatally diagnosed and 88 were reported to have associated fluid in at least 1 compartment, representing 2.8% of all prenatally diagnosed CDH cases in the registry. The overall survival to discharge for CDH patients with hydrops was 43%. The hydropic CDH group had lower birth weight and gestational age at birth, and increased incidence of right-sided CDH (55%), and rate of non-repair (45%). However, the survival rate for hydropic infants with CDH undergoing surgical repair was 80%. Other associated anomalies were more common in hydropic CDH (50% vs 37%, p = 0.001).ConclusionHydropic CDH is rare, only 2.8% of all prenatally diagnosed cases, and more commonly occurring in right-sided CDH. Survival rates are low, with higher rates of non-repair. However, decision-making regarding goals of care and an aggressive surgical approach in selected cases may result in survival rates comparable to non-hydropic cases.
Project description:Background: Pleural effusion and chylothorax are common complications in the treatment of congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH). We set out to identify risk factors for chylothorax development in patients with CDH and to investigate the association of pleural effusion and chylothorax with neonatal morbidity and mortality. Methods: In this retrospective cohort study, we included 396 neonates with CDH treated at our institution between January 2013 and June 2019. Preoperative and postoperative chest radiographs and clinical data were evaluated and correlated with morbidity, complications and mortality. Results: Laboratory-confirmed chylothorax occurred in 58 (18.6%) of all CDH cases. Pleural effusion was frequently observed as a postoperative complication but also occurred as a pre-existing condition. Neonates with large defects of size C and D, patch repair, the need for presurgical and/or postsurgical ECMO support, pulmonary hypertension, liver-up phenomenon and lower relative fetal lung volume were associated with higher occurrences of chylothorax. After stepwise logistic regression, larger CDH defects (p < 0.0001) and the need for postsurgical ECMO (p = 0.0158) remained significant risk factors for CTX to occur (AUC 0.71). The same potential risk factors were used to assess their association with both presurgical and postsurgical pleural effusion. After stepwise logistic regression, only the need for presurgical ECMO remained significantly associated with presurgical PE (p < 0.01, AUC 0.65) and patch repair as the therapeutic intervention remained significantly associated with the occurrence of postsurgical PE (p < 0.0001, AUC 0.80). Patients with CTX had longer durations of both MV (p < 0.0001) and subsequent ventilatory assistance with spontaneous breathing (p = 0.0004), increased total lengths of hospitalization (p < 0.0001), increased durations of ECMO (p < 0.01) and increased incidences of CLD (p < 0.0001) compared to patients without CTX. No significant difference could be found for survival in both groups (p = 0.12). Conclusions: Our data suggest that the incidence of chylothorax is associated with large diaphragmatic defects, the need for postsurgical ECMO and the development of chronic lung disease, but not with survival.