Successful treatment of congenital chylothorax using povidone iodine in trisomy 21 newborn

Abstract

Congenital chylothorax is known as abnormal leakage and accumulation of chyle in the pleural space. As one of the minimally invasive treatments, chemical pleurodesis has been more frequently used in treating pediatric chylothorax in recent years. We report through this observation the clinical case of a newborn male with Down’s syndrome born at 38 weeks of amenorrhea admitted to our unit for a respiratory distress after his birth. On exploration we concluded right unilateral congenital chylothorax. Treatment consisted in an evacuation of pleural fluid with a chemical pleurodesis based on povidone iodine with good clinical and radiological outcome. Keywords: congenital chylothorax; chemical pleurodesis; down’s syndrome; povidone iodine.