Dear friends,
today I am presenting preoperative chest radiographs for knee surgery in a 47-year-old woman.
More images will be shown on Wednesday.
What do you see?
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Findings: PA chest radiograph shows a bump in the left hemidiaphragm (A, arrow). It is partially hidden in the lateral view by the shadow of the right hemidiaphragm and the cardiac silhouette (B, arrows).
Diaphragmatic bumps are common on the right and rarer on the left, especially in young persons. I was curious about this finding and reviewed an abdominal CT done a few weeks earlier. Enhanced axial, coronal and sagittal images demonstrate an intact diaphragm and a fluid-filled structure in the thoracic side (C-E, arrows). The appearance is typical of a diaphragmatic cyst.
Diaphragmatic cyst is a congenital lesion, asymptomatic and absolutely harmless. It is easy to demonstrate with CT and should not be removed. They are rare (I have seen only four during my professional life). I thought it interesting to acquaint you with this rare entity.
Final diagnosis: congenital diaphragmatic cyst
Teaching point: not all diaphragmatic bumps are hernias or eventrations. When they occur in the left side in a young person, consider other possibilities, such as a congenital cyst or a fibrous pleural tumor.