title: Hernia of Morgagni and mediastinal lipoma: a case report.
abstract: A hernia of Morgagni (also called hernia of Morgagni-Larrey) is a congenital herniation of abdominal contents into the thoracic cavity through a retrosternal diaphragmatic defect. The Morgagni hernia can create uncertainty in its diagnosis and difficulty for subsequent treatment. If after clinical examination and x-ray we suspect the hernia, computed tomography imaging should be the desired imaging method to confirm the diagnosis. Surgery is the only definitive treatment. When a patient presents signs and symptoms of incarceration or strangulation, emergency surgery is required. We report the first life-threatening case of an association between a hernia of Morgagni and a mediastinal lipoma. We present an adult patient with mediastinal lipoma and a right incarcerated hernia of Morgagni with engagement of the stomach, the duodenum and the transverse colon, successfully treated without complications. To our knowledge, this is the first report of an association between those two rare entities in an acute setting. We discuss the differential diagnosis and physiopathology of the condition, referring to published reports.
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine and Surgery, Università Politecnica delle Marche, Ospedali Riuniti di Ancona, Via Conca n. 71, Ancona, Italy. v.menditto@univpm.it
authors.forename: Vincenzo Giannicola
authors.initials: VG
authors.lastname: Menditto
authors.forename: Angelo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cavicchi
authors.forename: Giorgio
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Marchetti
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Marzioni
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Braccioni
authors.forename: Stefano
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Polonara
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006548:Hernia, Diaphragmatic / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000601:surgery; D065630:Hernias, Diaphragmatic, Congenital; D006801:Humans; D007415:Intestinal Obstruction / Q000209:etiology; D008067:Lipoma / Q000150:complications* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000601:surgery; D008479:Mediastinal Neoplasms / Q000150:complications* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000601:surgery; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D016896:Treatment Outcome