Unsolved problems in CDH follow-up

Laura Valfré; Andrea Conforti; Francesco Morini; Neil Patel; Francesca Bevilacqua; Maria Chiara Cianci; Pietro Bagolan; Annabella Braguglia

doi:10.3389/fped.2022.977354

Unsolved problems in CDH follow-up

Front Pediatr. 2022 Oct 26:10:977354. doi: 10.3389/fped.2022.977354. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Laura Valfré¹, Andrea Conforti¹, Francesco Morini², Neil Patel³, Francesca Bevilacqua⁴, Maria Chiara Cianci², Pietro Bagolan^{1

5}, Annabella Braguglia⁶

Affiliations

¹ Neonatal Surgery Unit, Medical and Surgical Department of Fetus-Newborn-Infant, Bambino Gesù Children's Hospital, IRCCS, Rome, Italy.
² Neonatal Surgery Unit, Meyer Children Hospital, Florence, Italy.
³ Department of Neonatology, Royal Hospital for Children, Glasgow, United Kingdom.
⁴ Unit of Clinical Psychology, Department of Neuroscience, Bambino Gesù Children's Hospital, IRCCS, Rome, Italy.
⁵ Department of Systems Medicine, University of Tor Vergata, Rome, Italy.
⁶ Neonatal Intermediate Care Unit and Follow-Up, Medical and Surgical Department of Fetus-Newborn-Infant, Bambino Gesù Children's Hospital, IRCCS, Rome, Italy.

Abstract

In patients affected by CDH, survival beyond the neonatal period continues to increase thanks to technological and pharmacological improvements. Conversely, patients, families and caregivers are more and more frequently facing "new" complex late comorbidities, including chronic pulmonary and cardiac dysfunctions, neurodevelopmental challenges, and specific nutritional requirements, that often require ongoing long-term medical or surgical care. Therefore, late morbidity is now a key focus in clinical care of CDH. The aims of this paper are to stress some of the most important "unsolved problems" for CDH patients at long-term follow-up.

Keywords: congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH); hearing loss; long-term follow-up; neurodevelopment; problems; pulmonary hypertension; thoracoscopy.