Abstract
Over the past 20 years, prenatal detection of congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) has improved worldwide, reaching up to 60% in Europe. Pulmonary hypoplasia and persistent pulmonary hypertension are the two main determinants of neonatal mortality and morbidity, so new tools have been focused on their evaluation. Fetal surgery for severe cases requires proper evaluation of the prognosis of fetuses with CDH. It is very important to identify reliable prenatal prognostic factors that can be used worldwide for several reasons: patient counseling is more accurate; the results of pre- and postnatal treatments will be comparable across diferent institutions; fetuses eligible for fetal surgery will be selected correctly; and a woman expecting a child with a very poor prognosis can prepare herself for the postnatal demise of her baby or, in some countries, opt for termination of pregnancy.
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