[Congenital and post-operative chylothorax in the neonatal period]

In a retrospective survey of the patients admitted to the Neonatology Department during a 15 year period (october 1975-september 1990), we found 7 cases of chylothorax: 4 subsequent to cardiac surgery and 3 congenital. The incidence of chylothorax relative to the total number of admissions to NICU was 1.06% and 1.2% in respect to total admissions after cardiac surgery. The clinical outcome was good for all patients except one who died during resuscitation maneuvers following delivery. Only one patient required surgery to control chylothorax and the rest were successfully managed with medical treatment. We found that patients with postsurgical chylothorax drained a larger volume of pleural fluid, needed larger volumes of replacement fluid and required parental nutrition and mechanical ventilation for a longer period of time.