Diaphragmatic hernia

Last revised by Daniel J Bell on 15 May 2021

Citation, DOI, disclosures and article data

Citation:

Gaillard F, Bell D, Niknejad M, et al. Diaphragmatic hernia. Reference article, Radiopaedia.org (Accessed on 01 Dec 2023) https://doi.org/10.53347/rID-1221

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.53347/rID-1221

Permalink:

https://radiopaedia.org/articles/1221?iframe=true

rID:

1221

Article created:

2 May 2008, Frank Gaillard ◈

Disclosures:

At the time the article was created Frank Gaillard had no recorded disclosures.

View Frank Gaillard's current disclosures

Last revised:

15 May 2021, Daniel J Bell ◉

Disclosures:

At the time the article was last revised Daniel J Bell had no recorded disclosures.

View Daniel J Bell's current disclosures

Revisions:

18 times, by 12 contributors - see full revision history and disclosures

Systems:

Chest

Synonyms:

Diaphragmatic herniation
Diaphragmatic hernias
Diaphragmatic herniae

Diaphragmatic hernias (alternative plural: herniae) are defined as either congenital or acquired defects in the diaphragm.

Demographics and etiology

Congenital

There are two main types of congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH)s which are uncommon yet distinct entities that usually occur on the left side (80%) of the diaphragm ^1,2:

Bochdalek hernia: most common (95%), located posterolaterally and usually present in infancy ²
Morgagni hernia: smaller, anterior and presents later in life, through the sternocostal angles ²

Acquired

There are a variety of etiologies for acquired diaphragmatic hernias that usually occur in adulthood ¹:

traumatic diaphragmatic rupture through either penetrating injury (65%) or blunt trauma (35%) ³
hiatus hernia
iatrogenic

Depending on the location and size of the defect retroperitoneal or intra-abdominal organs and tissues can prolapse into thoracic cavity due to the negative intrathoracic pressure ¹. However, the converse i.e. thoracic organ herniation into the abdominal cavity is very rare.