title: Congenital left posterolateral diaphragmatic hernia with previously normal chest x-ray.
abstract: Three patients who presented with left congenital posterolateral diaphragmatic hernia at the ages of six months, two years and six years and who had a normal chest x-ray earlier in life are reported. In two children the late onset of symptoms and previously normal radiographic appearance might be explained by the spleen acting as a plug in the diaphragmatic defect. A normal chest x-ray in early infancy does not exclude the diagnosis of congenital posterolateral diaphragmatic hernia.
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006548:Hernia, Diaphragmatic / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D065630:Hernias, Diaphragmatic, Congenital; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D011859:Radiography