Introduction & Objectives: Congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) occurs in around 1 in 2000 live births and associated with high mortality rate reaching up to 50%, even with prenatal diagnosis and recently advanced and extensive neonatal intensive care management. The objectives of this study are to document the incidence, clinical experience and outcomes of congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) in newborn infants admitted to the neonatal unit at Maternity Hospital, Kuwait.

Methods and Materials A retrospective chart review of all newborn infants admitted to the neonatal unit at Maternity Hospital in Kuwait from January 2007 till December 2010. Demographic data of the babies were collected along with variables involving the levels of sickness and therapeutic interventions.

Results A total of 21 cases of CDH were admitted to the unit over the four years period. The gestational age ranged from 33 to 40 weeks. 13 cases died giving a mortality rate of 61.9%. All the cases received mechanical ventilation, and 16 of them was high frequency ventilation (HFO), while almost half of the cases received nitric oxide gas treatment. Almost all the cases were on 100% oxygen.

Conclusions Our results showed a little higher mortality than other centers worldwide, in spite our management pattern was not different. More cases need to be collected from the neonatal units in the other hospitals in Kuwait to compare the mortality rates and patterns of management.