Objective To explore the mechanism of pulmonary hypoplasia in case of congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH), and study the ultramicrostructural features of lung tissue of CDH fetal rat models at different developmental stages. Methods Seven SpragueDawley (SD) pregnant rats were randomly divided into CDH group (n=4) and control group (n=3). For the rats in the CDH group, Nitrofen was used to fill in the stomach once at day 9.5 of pregnancy (125 mg of Nitrofen dissolved in 2 ml of olive oil each), and 3, 10, 17 fetal rats were collected at day 16, 18 and 21 of pregnancy respectively. For the rats in the control group, 2 ml of olive oil was used to fill in the stomach, and 10 fetal rats were collected at day 16, 18, and 21 of pregnancy respectively. The lung tissue sections of the fetal rats collected on day 16 were observed under transmission electron microscope (TEM). For the lung tissue of the fetal rats collected on day 18, hematoxylineosin (HE) staining and TEM observation were performed and the incident of CDH was detected. Besides the procedures carried out for the rats collected on day 18, the ratio of fetal lung to body weight was observed for the lung tissue of the fetal rats collected on day 21. Results (1) The ratio of fetal lung to body weight of fetal rats in the CDH group was significantly lower than that of fetal rats in the control group (0.0238 vs. 0.0430, Plt;0.01). The incidences of CDH in the 18thday and 21stday fetal rats in the CDH group were 90.00% and 82.35%respectively, while no CDH was observed in the corresponding fetal rats in the control group, suggesting pulmonary hypoplasia in the CDH group. (2) The ultramicrostructural observation showed that compared with the control group, pulmonary hypoplasia appeared in 16thday fetal lungs in the CDH group, i.e., broad breathing barrier substrate, little contents, predominant euchromatin and rich ribosomes in the alveolar epithelial cells, and no microvilli in the bronchial lumen. The observation on the 18thday and 21stday samples suggested that, with the progressing of pregnancy, the abovementioned features became more obvious. (3) Typical lamellated body was observed in fetal lung type Ⅱ alveolar epithelial cells from the 21stday fetuses in both the CDH group and the control group, suggesting that some late subcellular structures were normal. Conclusion Lung hypoplasia develops in the early period of fetal rats with CDH rather than in the late period, implying that the treatment of pulmonary hypoplasia of diaphragmatic hernia should be performed in the early stage of lung development.
The management of neonates with high risk congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) which gives rise to respiratory distress syndrome in 6 hours after born is so troublesome that the mortality is very high. The past advocation that CDH should accept emergency operation has been called in question. Another therapeutic procedure is recommended that CDH repair operation should be performed after the respiration and circulation has been stabilized. This procedure has presented better effect than before. The present advances in the management including general measures, mechanical ventilation, extracorporal membranous oxygenator (ECMO), nitric oxide (NO) inhalation, glucocorticoid, pulmonary surfactant, CDH repair and so on were reviewed.
Objective To summarize the clinical characteristics, diagnosis and treatment of Bochdalek hernia in neonates and infants. Methods The data of 15 neonates and 10 infants with Bochdalek hernia，undergoing the normal diagnosis and surgical repair from August 1983 to June 2004, were retrospectively reviewed. Location was left in 22 cases and right in 3 cases. Twenty-four cases were treated by operation and 1 case died of respiratory failurebefore operation.Results Before April 1998，7 of 8 (5 neonates，3 infants) cases of Bochdalek hernia stayed healthy and respiratory symptomfree 1 year after operation; they were followed up 1 year and 3 months to 11 years. One premature neonate with Bochdalek hernia died of respiratory failure before operation, and his lung volume was found to be dysplasia. From April 1998 to June 2004, 15（8 neonates，7 infants） of 17 （10 neonates，7 infants）cases of Bochdalek hernia survived postoperatively, while 2 neonates died of respiratory failure. Conclusion The earlier dyspnoea of neonates ofBochdalek hernia occur，the worse their healthy status appear. The standard andtimely surgical repairs could improve the curative ratio. Whether the operationwas suspended depended on the healthy states of babies.
Objective To investigate the effect of the traditional Chinese medicine “Tetrandrine”(TET) and its significance on epidermal growth factor(EGF) and its receptor(EGFR) in the lung of nitrofen-induced congenital diaphragmatic hernia(CDH) rat model. Methods Twenty female rats were given maternal administration of a single oral dose (115 mg/rat) of nitrofen to induce CDH at 9.5 days after pregnancy and were dividedinto normal solution group(NS, n=5), dexamethasone group (Dex, n=5),tetrandrine group (TET, n=5) and Dex+TET group(n=5) at 18.5 days; 4 rats were given edible oil as controls. All fetuses were delivered by cesarean section at 21.5 days. Lung histologic evaluations and EGF, EGFR immunohistochemical staining and image analysis were performed. Results CDH was observed in 64 of the 137 rat fetuses (46.7%) in the experimental groups; no CHD was observed in 36 rat fetuses of control group. The lungs of CDH fetuses showed marked hypoplasia in NS group, in contrast to improved mesenchymal differentiationin that of Dex, TET, Dex+TET groups. The expression of EGF was weaker and weaker and that of EGFR was ber and ber as following order: NS, TET, DEX, T+D and control groups; showing significant differences between them (Plt;0.05). Conclusion Prenatal TET administration shows marked improvement in pulmonary hypoplasia through preregulating crest-time of EGF expression and upregulating EGFR expression in the lungs of nitrofen-induced CDH rat model. A combination of TET and Dex would generate evident synergistic effect.
Congenital deformities of the diaphragm include (1) Hiatus hernia; (2) Congenital diaphragmatic hernia; (3) Eventration of deaphragm. Fifty-one cases were seen by the authors in the past 30 years. Each type of the pathologic feature and the experiences in the surgical repair were suggested in this paper. Choice of an appropriate surgical procedure on the basis of its pathoanatomic and pathophysiologic features was emphasized in order to enhance the efficacy of treatment.