[Treatment of complications of pulmonary anomalies in childhood (author's transl)].

Congenital anomalies of the lungs very often remain asymptomatic and are discovered accidentally during routine examinations. Only one-third of 24 patients with congenital pulmonary abnormalities showed acute symptoms; in a further one-third a chronic recurrent symptom complex required surgical intervention as the only possible mode of treatment. The complications arising from these anomalies varied considerably. The most serious was the "acute thorax" in newborns; in a number of cases it needed emergency thoracotomy. The various types and their symptoms are described and their treatment is reviewed.