Prenatal sonographic features of congenital lobar emphysema

The prenatal sonographic features of congenital lobar emphysema (CLE) have not been well characterised. Five cases have been reported in the literatur e and on all these occasions either an echogenic (3) or a cystic (2) lung l esion was detected prenatally and the diagnosis was confirmed after the ope ration. This is the sixth case of CLE in the literature with prenatal sonog raphic features documented. The prenatal scans of a 23-year-old lady perfor med at 22 weeks of gestation revealed cystic lesions and Increased echogeni city of the right fetal lung. There were no other anomalies and the karyoty pe was normal, The lesion decreased in size at 28 weeks and the baby was bo rn by a normal vaginal delivery at 41 weeks. CT scan performed on day 6 con firmed cystic changes on the right lung with compression of the right lower robe. A repeat CT scan performed at 4 months revealed extensive cystic cha nges in a hyper-inflated right lung and mediastinal shift to the left. At o peration, abnormally inflated right upper and middle lobes were found sugge sting a CLE. There were no subsequent complications after removal and histo logy confirmed CLE. The reported cases are reviewed and the prenatal sonogr aphic features of CLE are discussed. Copyright (C) 2001 S.Karger AG,Basel.