Fig. 1.

Comparison of central lung zone pulmonary innervation in control lungs and lung specimens from humans with congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) using the pan-neural marker S-100. A and B: S-100 staining in the central zone of the control lung reveals a well-developed peribronchial neural plexus. Arrows, S-100-positive nerves; ∗, nonspecific S-100 cartilage staining. C and D: S-100 staining in the central zone of the CDH lung shows a less complex peribronchial neural plexus, with decreased number and size of nerve trunks (arrows). E: S-100-positive neurons in the central zone of control and CDH lungs expressed as total area of S-100-positive nerves on sections. There is a significant reduction in S-100-positive neural tissue in the central zone of CDH lungs compared with controls. S-100-positive cartilage cells were excluded from analysis. *P < 0.05.