Congenital complete absence (bilateral agenesis) of the diaphragm: a rare variant of congenital diaphragmatic hernia.

Although congenital diaphragmatic hernia is one of the most common congenital anomalies, complete bilateral absence of the diaphragm is a very rare variant, with six cases reported in the literature. A 1040 g black male infant was born at 27 weeks' gestation to a 28-year-old black woman with a history of minimal prenatal care and cocaine abuse during pregnancy. Apgar scores were 2/1/1/0/1 at 1, 5, 10, 15, and 20 minutes, respectively and efforts to resuscitate him were unsuccessful.