BackgroundGastric duplication cysts are rare congenital alimentary tract anomalies and most cases are recognized during childhood. There were few reports about gastric duplication cysts in newborns and even fewer reports about laparoscopic resection of gastric duplication cysts in newborns.Case presentationWe report a series of five newborns with gastric duplication cysts which were successfully resected by laparoscopy between January 2010 and April 2015. Case 1, a male newborn was admitted because of severe salivation, choking cough and dyspnea for 30 min after birth. Case 2, a male, was suspected of duodenal ileus by antenatal examination. Case 3, a female was admitted because of vomiting for 5 days. Case 4,a female without significant symptoms simply visited us for the abdominal cyst detected by antenatal examination. Case 5, a male was admitted because of vomiting for 4 days. All patients were performed with a surgery after assistant examinations. Case 1 was died of respiratory failure and the other patients recovered uneventfully.ConclusionGastric duplication cysts in newborns are very rare. Laparoscopic surgery play an important role on the diagnosis and treatment. Our experience and practice indicate that laparoscopic resection of gastric duplication cysts in newborns is viable and there is also a need to increase sample size to prove its safety and effectiveness.

Rationale:Communicating bronchopulmonary foregut malformation (CBPFM) is a rare congenital malformation involving both the digestive and respiratory systems. To our best knowledge, most cases of CBPFM reported in the literature were in infancy or adulthood and CBPFM in infantile is even rarer with a high case-fatality rate partly due to misdiagnosis.Patient concerns:We presented 2 cases of neonatal CBPFM. A 11-hour male newborn was admitted because of moaning for 7 hours, and a 1-day male newborn was referred to us with profuse foams, choking on breast-milk feeding and facial cyanosis.Diagnoses:With the assistance of upper gastrointestinal tract imaging and contrast-enhanced chest computed tomography (CT), the diagnosis was established according to the most recent diagnostic criteria.Interventions:The case one recieved a lower left pneumonectomy and surgical repair of esophageal fistula. The case two was performed with a surgical repair of esophageal atresia and esophageal tracheal fistula firstly, and then also received a repair of communicating bronchopulmonary foregut malformation two weeks after the first operation.Outcomes:The case one was cured and discharged 2 weeks after admission. Unfortunately the case two died from respiratory failure.Lessons:Pediatric surgeons should therefore be aware that type I CBPMF is rare and preoperative diagnosis is usually difficult. Maldiagnosis is uncommon because clinicians often focus their attention on esophageal atresia and neglect pulmonary abnormalities. Other than upper gastrointestinal tract radiography and CT scan, bronchoscopy should be considered in pediatric patients with esophageal atresia complicated with pulmonary abnormalities, knowing that bronchoscopy may help confirm the diagnosis and select surgical strategies.