January/February 1999, Volume 19, Issue 1, Pages 68 - 71

Clinical Perinatal Presentation

Congenital Chylothorax in Neonatal Thyrotoxicosis Hassan Ibrahim, MD, Alexander Asamoah, MD, Richard W. Krouskop, MD, David Lewis, MD, Patricia Webster, MD & Arun K. Pramanik, MD The Department of Pediatrics (H. I., A. A., R. W. K., P. W., A. K. P.) and The Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology (D. L.), Louisiana State University School of Medicine-Shreveport, Shreveport, LA.     Correspondence to: Hassan Ibrahim, MD , Department of Pediatrics, Louisiana State University Medical Center, P.O. Box 33932, Shreveport, LA 71130-3932.

Abstract

We report a patient with congenital chylothorax who also had neonatal thyrotoxicosis secondary to maternal Graves’ disease. Fetal tachycardia with hydrops was detected at 28 weeks’ gestational age. The fetus responded to antithyroid medication in utero but had persistent bilateral pleural effusion. At birth, he had respiratory distress due to massive pleural effusion. Cytologic studies of pleural fluid were consistent with chylothorax. To the best of our knowledge, the association of congenital chylothorax with fetal (neonatal) thyrotoxicosis, has not been reported previously.

^© Macmillan Publishers Ltd 1999