Renal enlargement in the fetus and newborn with congenital diaphragmatic hernia: a refuted hypothesis.
OBJECTIVE
Congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) is one of the most frequent causes of neonatal death because of lung hypoplasia (LH). The literature mentions a relationship between renal and pulmonary development, with higher kidney weight in presence of LH. The aims of this study were to evaluate the relationship between lung and kidney weight and to test the hypothesis of renal enlargement in fetuses and newborns with CDH.


METHODS
Body weight (BW), combined kidney weight (KW), and lung weight (LW) of 52 CDH cases were established; 52 morphologically normal fetuses or newborns, matched by BW, served as a control population. Comparisons were done by covariance analysis, and a P value of less than .05 was considered as significant.


RESULTS
Excluding renal abnormalities, adjusted mean kidney weights were 22.0 g (+/-1.8 SE) in CDH cases and 20.5 g (+/-1.5 SE) in controls (F = 1.05; P = .308). KW to BW ratio was lower in CDH cases than in controls (P = .023). LW was significantly lower in CDH cases than in controls.


CONCLUSIONS
No significant difference between KW of CDH cases and controls could be observed. The current study provides enough evidence to reject the hypothesis of renal enlargement in cases of LH and CDH.
Rittler
M
M
Division of Neonatology, Hospital Materno-Infantil Ramón Sardá, Buenos Aires University Medical School, Argentina.
Mazzitelli
N
N
Grandi
C
C
Vauthay
L
L
Fuksman
R
R
Bernal
L
L
D001835:Body Weight; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005313:Fetal Death; D006548:Hernia, Diaphragmatic / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology; D065630:Hernias, Diaphragmatic, Congenital; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007668:Kidney / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000473:pathology*; D008168:Lung / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000473:pathology*; D009929:Organ Size; D012016:Reference Values