Thoracoabdominal compartment syndrome complicating right-sided diaphragmatic eventration with co-existent unilateral renal agenesis

Abstract

Diaphragmatic eventration (DE) associated with intestinal malrotation and renal agenesis is a rare entity. The authors report a case of a 69-year-old man who had symptoms of heart failure. He had a previous imaging diagnosis of right diaphragmatic eventration and dilated cardiomyopathy. He died on the second day after the hospital admission and had a post mortem examination that confirmed complete right diaphragmatic eventration, intestinal malrotation, left renal agenesis, dilated cardiomyopathy, and anteriorly rotated right kidney and had findings suggestive of a thoracoabdominal compartment syndrome. Thoracoabdominal compartment syndrome is described as transmission of abdominal pressure through a defective diaphragm causing compression of the hemithorax viscera and mediastinal shift with a hemodynamic alteration. The association of these anomalies is rare, and the possibility of this finding in a patient with eventration should always be considered.