Congenital diaphragmatic hernia

Posterolateral congenital diaphragmatic hernia (Bochdalek's hernia, CDH) that presents in the neonatal period is often manifest as life-threatening respiratory distress due to mechanical compression of the cardiopulmonary system by herniated viscera. Most patients can be supported through surgical reduction and repair with standard neonatal techniques. Postoperatively, many develop severe, refractory persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn (PPHN) after a variable period of adequate oxygenation. Despite aggressive ventilatory and pharmacologic maneuvers, a significant number of these infants develop fatal hypoxia and acidosis. At our institution, extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) has been used as a therapy of last resort in 12 moribund infants with PPHN and respiratory failure after repair of CDH. There were 7 survivors. All long-term survivors [6] were totally weaned from ventilatory support; all met the criteria for nonsurvival as defined by Bohn et al. [2]. Eight patients (4 survivors) had no PaO₂ greater than 100 torr postoperatively. ECMO can relieve the hypoxic and metabolic stimuli that aggravate pulmonary hypertension and provide cardiopulmonary support. It is the treatment of choice for infants who are deteriorating in the face of maximum conventional therapy after surgical correction. Lesions that were formerly denoted nonsurvivable can be effectively treated. It is urged that this therapy be used whenever necessary to sustain the life of an infant who has survived operation, regardless of whether the patient has demonstrated a honeymoon period, PaO₂ greater than 100 torr, or any other factor conventionally thought to delineate survivable from nonsurvivable lesions. Such practices may exclude patients with survivable lesions from life-saving therapy.