Ng Chung-por, Lo Chi-biu, Chung Chin-hung
Accident and Emergency Department, North District Hospital, New Territories, Hong Kong, China.
Emerg Med Australas. 2004 Apr;16(2):167-9. doi: 10.1111/j.1742-6723.2004.00570.x.
Patients with congenital diaphragmatic hernia usually present in the immediate neonatal period with respiratory distress. However, presentation beyond the neonatal period has sporadically been reported. We report a case of a 4-year-old girl who presented with a 1 month history of chronic cough and low-grade fever, with no response to multiple antibiotics. Initially, both clinical and radiological findings suggested inflammatory chest disease. Fortunately, after performing ultrasound, suspicion was raised and she was later diagnosed to have left congenital diaphragmatic hernia of Bochdalek type. Although rare, this entity should form one of the differential diagnoses of unresolving pneumonia in children.