Lung Agenesis: An Embryological Perspective

Abstract

Lung agenesis or aplasia is a very rare congenital anomaly. It is estimated at 34 per million live births. The etiology of this disorder has not been clearly known. Failure of development of the primitive lung bud leads is the cause of this condition. In half of these cases, it has been reported in association with other congenital defects such as congenital malformation of the cardio-vascular, skeletal, gastrointestinal or genitor-urinary system. This condition is usually diagnosed during childhood. Some patients with lung agenesis may suffer from recurrent respiratory distress, dyspnea, and lung infections. We report a case of a 1-month 28 day old male infant with right-sided lung agenesis association with spina bifida as other congenital defects presented to us with recurrent severe respiratory distress. The purpose of writing this case report is to explore a case of pulmonary agenesis in terms of its embryological aspects.