[Bochdalek's hernia in an adult with stomach volvulus and extrapulmonary sequestration]

Abstract

We report a case of Bochdalek's hernia with volvulus of the stomach and extrapulmonary sequestration in an adult. A 27-year-old woman presented acute respiratory failure, pain in the left side of the chest and recurrent vomiting of sudden onset. Upon examination there was pain in the left hypochondrium that was not tolerated in decubitus position. A chest film showed an "arch" at the base on the left side and an upper gastrointestinal series revealed volvulus of the stomach. After a left thoracotomy, the stomach, spleen and greater omentum were found displaced into the thoracic cavity. After the viscera were confined to the abdomen, the hernia was repaired and the pulmonary sequestration was removed. Two years later, the patient was asymptomatic and a chest film was normal.