Right lung agenesis

Abstract

Congenital pulmonary agenesis or aplasia is extremely rare. Although more than fi fty percent of patients die before fi rst fi ve years of age, some individuals may remain asymptomatic throughout their life. A threemonth- old female child with right pulmonary agenesis presented to us with severe respiratory distress. She was misdiagnosed as a case of foreign body bronchus at the peripheral health centre. Bronchoscopy confi rmed the
diagnosis and relieved the symptoms. It is recommended that invasive diagnostic procedures and prophylactic surgery should not be done in asymptomatic cases.

Keywords: Foreign body bronchus, lung aplasia, pulmonary agenesis

African Journal of Paediatric Surgery Vol. 5 (2) 2008: pp. 102-104