PULMONARY SEQUESTRATIONS DETECTED BY ANTENATAL ULTRASOUND

We present three cases of abdominal and abdomino-thoracic extra-lobar pulmonary sequestrations detected by antenatal ultrasound (US) over a 12-month period. In addition, we briefly refer to a case previously de scribed. A cystic mass was demonstrated in the left upper abdomen of t he fetus in all four cases, with two extending into the thorax. The di agnosis was confirmed postnatally by fine-needle biopsy and later exci sion of the mass. In all four cases the lesion did not interfere with the pregnancy, and only one child demonstrated transient effects of mi ld pulmonary hypoplasia. Review of the antenatal scans showed that in each case the sequestration did not appear to grow during the pregnanc y, with a relative decrease in size. Extra-lobar sequestration should always be considered in the differential diagnosis of an abdominal mas s diagnosed on antenatal US, especially if cystic and extending from t he abdomen through the diaphragm into the mediastinum. Although abdomi nal sequestrations are rare in comparison to thoracic lesions at postn atal diagnosis, they represent 21 of the 40 published series of pulmon ary sequestrations diagnosed on antenatal US.