Clinicopathologic assessment of prenatally diagnosed lung diseases

To investigate the clinical features and pathologic diagnosis of prenatally diagnosed lung diseases.

The medical records of 28 fetuses with prenatally diagnosed lung diseases were reviewed with regard to perinatal courses, ultrasonographic measurement of the lesion volume ratio, and the histopathology of lung tissue.

Of the 23 fetuses with a prenatal diagnosis of congenital cystic adenomatoid malformation (CCAM), 4 required an emergency lobectomy (1 prenatally and 3 postnatally), whereas the other 14 showed uneventful courses after birth. The pathologic diagnosis of the resected lungs included CCAM (n = 4), lobar emphysema (n = 2), intralobar sequestration (n = 2), and bronchial atresia (n = 1). The peak value of the lesion volume ratio was significantly higher in the CCAM cases that required urgent surgery than in the non-CCAM cases (2.29 +/- 0.46 vs 1.20 +/- 0.21, P < .001). The ratio decreased after the 25th to the 30th week to less than 1.0 in the 5 non-CCAM cases, but remained higher than 2.0 in the 4 CCAM cases. Prenatally diagnosed extralobar pulmonary sequestration caused massive pleural effusion requiring a fetal intervention in 4 of the 5 fetuses.

The prenatally diagnosed lung lesions include various kinds of pulmonary diseases. Regardless of the diseases, sequential ultrasonographic assessment may predict perinatal risks.