Sequestration of the Left Lower Lobe of the Lung

Abnormal lobes of the lung have been recognized in autopsy material for many years. The least common of such abnormal lobes are those known by such synonyms as Rokitansky lobe, extralobar sequestrated lobe, accessory lung, aberrant lobe, and supernumerary lung. Bruwer, Clagett, and McDonald 1 precisely define the abnormality as "an anomalous, nonfunctioning piece of pulmonary tissue... found either below the diaphragm or between the diaphragm and the lower lobe.... [It] is enclosed in a pleural sheath of its own." Although von Rokitansky * in 1861 was able to find 12 cases in the literature and reported 1 of his own, all were autopsy cases, and the first clinical report did not appear until 1947. In that year Valle and White 3 presented their patient, a 9-month-old boy, with an extralobar sequestrated lobe, who unfortunately died of shock during operation for an associated diaphragmatic hernia. The following year DeBakey, Arey, and