Brain heterotopia in the lungs. A rare cause of respiratory distress in the newborn.

This article documents the presence of multifocal, bilateral glial heterotopia in the lungs manifesting as symptomatic lung masses during the newborn period. Prior to the present report, this rare form of heterotopia was known to occur exclusively in anencephalic infants. The observed bilateral pulmonary disease had an important cystic component, clinically and radiologically similar to cystic adenomatoid malformation. Theoretically, several explanations may be elaborated to account for the presence of central nervous tissue in the lungs: embolic events; protrusion of embryonic brain structures that are subsequently dislodged from their normal site; in-situ transformation of local developing tissues; and teratoma with predominance of neural tissue. The evidence is insufficient to conclude in favor of any of these explanations.