The objective was to study the clinical presentation and surgical outcome in children with congenital cystic lesions of the lung. The medical records of 11 patients operated in the department of paediatric surgery, from January 2014 to December 2017, were evaluated retrospectively. Median age was 18 months (1-108).Respiratory distress was seen in 5 (45.4%) patients, recurrent chest infections in 4 (36.4%) patients and only 2 (18.2%) presented after birth. One patient of congenital lobar emphysema was misdiagnosed as pneumothorax and four patients of recurrent chest infection had been misdiagnosed as pulmonary tuberculosis. All patients underwent lateral thoracotomy. There was no mortality, median length of hospital stay was 4 days (4-5) and only one patient needed postoperative ventilation. On follow up, 10 (90.9%) patients had attained normal level of physical activities. We conclude that increasing awareness of these lesions can prevent misdiagnosis and unnecessary tube thoracostomy and anti-tubercular therapy in children.
Keywords: Congenital cystic lesions of lung, Congenital cystic adenomatoid malformation, Congenital lobar emphysema, Broncho pulmonary sequestration, Bronchogenic cyst..