Systemic gas embolus: a discussion of its pathogenesis in the neonate, with a review of the literature.

We report, a term newborn infant with congenital vocal cord paralysis and congenital viral myocarditis. In her five days of life she developed a pneumomediastinum, pneumopericardium, subcutaneous emphysema, and terminally a pneumothorax and systemic air embolus. This unusual case is used to develop a concept of the pathogenesis of extraventilatory air, and is also represented in diagrammatic form.