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World J Clin Pediatr. Dec 9, 2026; 15(4): 117885
Published online Dec 9, 2026. doi: 10.5409/wjcp.117885
Published online Dec 9, 2026. doi: 10.5409/wjcp.117885
Neonatal chylothorax and ultrasound: Diagnosis, measurements, and correlations with management
Alessandro Perri, Annamaria Sbordone, Simona Fattore, Alessia De Matteis, Giulia Rotunno, Giovanni A Marrocco, Stefano Nobile, Lucia Giordano, Milena Tana, Giovanni Vento, Department of Woman and Child Health and Public Health, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli IRCCS, Rome 00168, Italy
Alessia De Matteis, Giulia Rotunno, Giovanni A Marrocco, Department of Woman and Child Health and Public Health, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Rome 00168, Italy
Giovanni Vento, Division of Neonatology, Department of Pediatrics, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli IRCCS, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Rome 00168, Italy
Co-first authors: Alessandro Perri and Annamaria Sbordone.
Author contributions: Perri A, Sbordone A, and Vento G conceptualized the study; De Matteis A, Rotunno G, and Marrocco GA performed the formal data analysis and conducted the investigation; Perri A and Fattore S designed the methodology; Vento G supervised the study to completion; Perri A, Sbordone A, and Fattore S wrote the original draft of the manuscript; Nobile S, Giordano L, and Tana M reviewed and edited each successive version of the manuscript for important intellectual content; Perri A and Sbordone A share first authorship as they had equal roles in the study conceptualization and conduction, and thus qualify as the co-first authors; all authors read and approved the final version of the manuscript.
Institutional review board statement: The Institutional Review Board of Fondazione Policlinico Gemelli IRCCS provided approval for this study (No. 00008329/21).
Informed consent statement: Written informed consent was obtained from the parents of the patients.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare no conflicts of interest for this article.
STROBE statement: The authors have read the STROBE Statement-checklist of items, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the STROBE Statement-checklist of items.
Data sharing statement: No additional data are available.
Corresponding author: Stefano Nobile, MD, MSc, PhD, Adjunct Professor, Department of Woman and Child Health and Public Health, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli IRCCS, Largo Francesco Vito 1, Rome 00168, Italy. stefano.nobile@policlinicogemelli.it
Received: December 18, 2025
Revised: January 30, 2026
Accepted: March 24, 2026
Published online: December 9, 2026
Processing time: 277 Days and 17.5 Hours
Revised: January 30, 2026
Accepted: March 24, 2026
Published online: December 9, 2026
Processing time: 277 Days and 17.5 Hours
Core Tip
Core Tip: Chylothorax is a rare but severe condition in neonates. Lung ultrasound can be useful in managing this condition, but ultrasound parameters have not been standardized thus far. The results of this study could be useful for proposing prospective studies intended to test “measurement protocol” for chylothorax in neonates. We retrospectively reviewed 10 cases of congenital chylothorax and measured the lung-chest wall distance, the lung-diaphragm distance, and the derived area. Receiver operating characteristic curves showed interesting values for the proposed measurements. Lung ultrasound, in the future, can be studied as a valuable tool in the management of neonates with chylothorax.