Diaphragmatic Hernia in a Newborn With COL1A1-Associated Classical Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome

Diaphragmatic rupture is an uncommonly seen complication of classical Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (cEDS). There have been no documented cases of diaphragmatic hernia in newborns having cEDS. This case study discusses a male infant delivered through spontaneous vertex delivery to a mother with cEDS. No evidence of a diaphragmatic hernia was found 6 days before delivery when an ultrasound scan to monitor a ventricular septal defect was carried out. Postnatally, the infant displayed signs of severe respiratory distress. A chest radiograph revealed a diaphragmatic hernia. The surgical team found and corrected a small posterolateral diaphragmatic defect on the third day of life. This resulted in a good recovery following management of a complication of chylothorax. The mother was known to have cEDS and bidirectional sequencing of the patient's lymphocyte DNA detected the heterozygous pathogenic familial variant COL1A1 c.934C > T;p.(Arg312Cys). This variant has been previously reported in cases of cEDS. Other COL1A1 variants are known to be associated with arthrochalasia-type EDS and osteogenesis imperfecta, but no COL1A1 variants have been associated previously with congenital diaphragmatic hernia or diaphragmatic rupture. The familial variant impacts the highly conserved arginine residue in the Gly-X-Y triplet motif of the Type-I collagen protein. It has been reported in various families as a rare cause of autosomal-dominant cEDS. This case report details the patient's journey, including images of radiographs, highlighting a rare but important complication of spontaneous vertex delivery for individuals with cEDS. We also include a literature review on diaphragmatic hernia and rupture in classical EDS.