[Prenatal management of congenital diaphragmatic hernia: present, past and future]

The congenital diaphragmatic hernia is a defect in the formation of the diaphragm, which affects between 1:2,000 and 1:4,000 live births and represents 8% of major congenital anomalies. Medical advances in the last 30 years involving prenatal diagnosis, fetal intervention, neonatal surgical and clinical management have changed the survival of these patients. The historical evolution of these advances helps us to understand the effort in pursuit of better results of this defect, which is often lethal. Perspectives on the use of bioengineering and therapy involving stem cells may bring new hope for fetuses with congenital diaphragmatic hernia.