Congenital diaphragmatic hernia: a single-centre experience at Kepler University Hospital Linz

Congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) is found in about 1 of 3000 live births and is often complicated by pulmonary hypoplasia and alteration of the pulmonary arterial wall with resulting pulmonary hypertension. Since 2005, with the fusion of the children’s hospital and the maternity clinic of the Kepler University Hospital Linz, affected neonates have been treated according to a standard protocol at our perinatal centre. Some prenatally measured parameters have been used to predict mortality, e.g., observed-to-expected lung-to-head ratio or lung volume measurements by nuclear magnetic resonance imaging. We performed a retrospective chart review of 67 new-borns with CDH treated at our institution to detect any predictors of hospital mortality from parameters routinely collected within the first 24 h of life. The term “liver up” was identified as a predictor of hospital mortality; OR 9.2 (95% CI 1.9–51.1, p = 0.002, sensitivity 79%, specificity 71%). In addition, the need for application of high-frequency oscillatory ventilation during the first 24 h was associated with mortality; OR 44.4 (95% CI 6.3–412.1, p = 0.001, sensitivity 85.7%, specificity 88%).