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Diaphragmatic hernia resulting in enterothorax following pediatric liver transplantation: a rare complication.

Englert C, Helmke K, Richter A, Beckmann M, Rogiers X, Burdelski M, Ganschow R

Department of Pediatrics, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Germany. cenglert@uke.uni-hamburg.de

Diaphragmatic hernia is a rare complication following solid organ transplantation. We here report three pediatric patients suffering from posttransplant enterothorax. One patient with biliary atresia presented with clinical signs of peritonitis without showing pulmonary symptoms four weeks following liver transplantation. The second patient was admitted with suspected pneumonia, whereas the third patient presented with recurrent abdominal pain over weeks and physical examination revealed the unexpected diagnosis of enterothorax. All patients received split liver transplants. Unspecific clinical signs mislead to suspected infectious complication under immunosuppression. No apparent risk factors for diaphragmatic hernia could be identified. Diaphragmatic hernia can present with a variety of atypical clinical symptoms. Severe or prolonged abdominal complains should lead to x-ray examination. We speculate that the split liver technique used in our center could lead to this rare complication due to the different anatomic position of the liver transplant in the abdomen.

Published 23 August 2006 in Transplantation, 82(4): 574-6.
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