Pulmonary Agenesis

¹ Assistant Professor of Surgery, Tulane University School of Medicine

Congenital absence or deficiency of pulmonary tissue is a rare condition, but it is not as uncommon as it was once presumed to be. Currently, with improved diagnostic means and augmented knowledge of the condition, agenesis is diagnosed with sufficient frequency to justify consideration in the differentiation of obscure or puzzling pulmonary conditions.

The anomaly is not incommensurate with normal life expectation unless associated defects or malformations make survival impossible. Heightened susceptibility to respiratory infections or vascular incompetence is the major hazard. The histories of three patients illustrate some of the findings that may be expected, concomitanly, with agenesis of the lungs.