[Lateral ventral or Spiegel's line hernia. Apropos of 8 new cases]

Eight cases of lateral ventral hernia, or the so-called hernia of the line of Spiegel, included 2 serious cases complicated by a pyostercoral phlegmon. The principal anatomic, clinical and therapeutic features of these hernias are discussed, with emphasis of the probable underestimation of this affection and the value of parietal ultrasound imaging for its early diagnosis in patients with abdominal pain unexplained by a deep visceral lesion.