Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia

Guest: Gabrielle Kardon, Ph. D., Associate Professor of Human Genetics at the University of Utah  Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia occurs in 1 out of every 2,500 births.  Which puts it up there with muscular dystrophy and cystic fibrosis by prevalence – but CDH, as it’s called, is less-well known. Its causes are also more mysterious to doctors. Geneticist Gabrielle Kardon at the University of Utah has recently uncovered some answers about the condition  An infant born with CDH has a weakness in the diaphragm, that can no longer act as a barrier for the stomach and impedes the development of the lungs. The mortality rate of babies born with the condition is about 50%.