A look back at the history of Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia:
1500’s
1575 – Diaphragmatic Hernia was first described by Pare’ in reporting two autopsies of adults who had acquired diaphragmatic hernias by trauma.
1600’s
1672 – The first description of Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia was reported by Lazarus Riverius during the autopsy of an adult male. Miraculously, this man lived 24 years with CDH in the 17th century.
1700’s
1701 – Holt reported the first case of CDH in a child.
1796 – Morgagni discussed various types of diaphragmatic hernia, including the anterior CDH that bears his name.
1800’s
1827– Cooper described the symptoms, pathology, and classification of CDH.
1834 – Laennec was the first to suggest a laparotomy that could be used to withdraw intestine from the chest cavity.
1847 – Bowditch presented the first collected series of patients with diaphragmatic hernia in 1847 before the Boston Society for Medical Observation.
1848 – Bochdalek described CDH that occurs posterolateral. This condition now bears his name.
1888 – The first recorded attempt of a laparotomy to reduce the hernia was made by Naumann.
1900’s
1902 – The first reported successful operation on an infant born with CDH.
1946 – Robert Gross reported the first successful repair of a CDH in a baby less than 24 hours old.
1976 – Doctors first used lambs to recreate CDH to research the cause and best treatments for CDH.
1976 – ECMO (Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation) was first used successfully in the treatment of persistent pulmonary hypertension
1980’s
1983 – Reversed Latissimus Dorsi Flap first used to repair CDH.
1989 – Michael Harrison led the team at the UCSF in the first successful open fetal surgery for CDH.
1990’s
1992 – First population-based study of CDH published by Claudine P. Torfs.
1992 – “Gentle Ventilation” of CDH first began by Jen-Tien Wung, MD
1994 – The first NIH-sponsored clinical trial for fetal surgery was done at UCSF for the open repair of CDH
1994 – The world’s first CDH charity, Stichting Hernia Diafragmatic, was founded in the Netherlands.
Timeline compiled by CDH International
