Cervical lung protrusions in children

Two main types of cervical lung protrusion are seen in children. The first type, which is very uncommon, is a true herniation of the lung apex through a tear or defect in Sibson's fascia usually caused by a direct external local trauma. The second type, here called for convenience simple lung protrusion, is seen not uncommonly in lateral neck roentgenograms, especially in the first years of life, and is considered to be a normal finding or an anatomical variant. In the vast majority of cases these simple lung protrusions resolve spontaneously in early life; cases that fail to resolve may increase in size and become clinically significant. This paper reports on 54 children in whom the simple form of cervical lung protrusion was observed as an incidental finding in routine lateral neck roentgenograms, with a review of previous instances of cervical lung protrusions in children described in the literature.