title: Delayed presentation of intrapericardial diaphragmatic hernia, an unusual cause of colon obstruction.
abstract: The earliest symptoms of diaphragmatic hernia may not appear until viscera incarcerate in it years after the causal injury. The most unusual site for a diaphragmatic hernia to occur is through the central tendon of the diaphragm into the pericardium. We present the case of a 43-year-old man who suffered a bowel obstruction when the transverse colon and omentum became incarcerated in the intrapericardial diaphragmatic hernia. The defect presumably resulted from blunt chest and abdominal trauma received 15 years earlier. The delayed presentation of intrapericardial diaphragmatic hernia is reviewed, and recommendations for evaluation and treatment are made.
authors.affiliation: Department of Community and Preventive Medicine, Crawford Long Hospital, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia 30365.
authors.forename: D J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Beless
authors.forename: B C
authors.initials: BC
authors.lastname: Organ
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003108:Colonic Diseases / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000209:etiology* / Q000601:surgery; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006549:Hernia, Diaphragmatic, Traumatic / Q000150:complications* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000601:surgery; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010496:Pericardium / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D011859:Radiography; D013997:Time Factors