Published online Jul 27, 2013. doi: 10.4240/wjgs.v5.i7.222
Revised: May 9, 2013
Accepted: June 5, 2013
Published online: July 27, 2013
An 81-year-old gentleman with congenital polycystic kidney disease presented to his primary care physician with dysphagia, gastroesophageal reflux refractory to medical management, and 11.25 kg weight loss in a 6 mo-period. A barium swallow misdiagnosed a paraesophageal hernia for a Bochdalek hernia. Herein, we highlight how a Bochdalek hernia may be disregarded in the differential diagnosis and how providers can resort to a more common diagnosis, a paraesophageal hernia, which is more frequently encountered in old age and whose radiologic appearance might mimic a Bochdalek hernia.
Core tip: Bochdalek hernias are seldom encountered in elderly patients. Hence, our goal is to briefly shed light on this less common hernia of the diaphragm and highlight its diagnosis and current treatment options, which are very different from that of a paraesophageal hernia, a common misdiagnosis.