Pulmonary hypoplasia

Pulmonary hypoplasia is common in the perinatal period and a significant cause of death in newborn infants. Wigglesworth and Desai reported an incidence of 14.5% in a series of perinatal necropsies.1 Renal or urinary tract anomalies were the most common associated abnormalities followed by diaphragmatic hernia or eventration. Other associations included skeletal muscle disorders, exomphalos, skeletal dysplasia, hydrops fetalis, trisomy 18, prolonged rupture of the membranes, intrauterine hypoxic–ischaemic brain damage, and five cases where there was evidence only of intrauterine or intrapartum hypoxia. Husain and Hessel found that 26% of fetuses, babies, and infants (18 weeks of gestation to 2 years of age) had pulmonary hypoplasia at necropsy, and in this series pulmonary hypoplasia was considered to be the immediate cause of death in 22%.2 In this study diaphragmatic hernia was the most common associated abnormality followed by prolonged rupture of the membranes, renal disorders, hydrops fetalis and chromosomal abnormality.