Congenital (Bochdalek) diaphragmatic hernia: problems in diagnosis and management.

A review of 24 children with posterolateral (Bochdalek) diaphragmatic hernia over a five-year period was carried out to highlight the problems of diagnosis and' management. Nine children were delivered in the Maternity Hospital Kuala Lumpur, giving an incidence of 1 : 10,000 live births which is half the expected incidence. Difficulty in diagnosis is apparent from the large number of initially misdiagnosed cases (29%) and those not detected soon after birth (71% diagnosed after 24 hours). Less than half the babies had associated anomalies, commonest being malrotation and ipsilateral lung hypoplasia.