Bochdalek hernia

A male newborn baby was delivered by caesarean section at 38 weeks' gestational age because of a prenatal ultrasound diagnosis of a congenital diaphragmatic hernia. Shortly after delivery he was in respiratory distress and cyanotic, and unable to move freely. He was rapidly intubated and treated with high-frequency oscillatory ventilation. When he was stable, an x-ray was carried out at the bedside. This showed herniated bowel loops in the left hemithorax, displacement of the mediastinum to the contralateral side, and severely reduced lung space and unclear lung fields bilaterally. The left hemi-diaphragm could not be seen separately (figure).