congenital lobar emphysema [L, congenitus, born with; Gk, lobos, lobe; Gk, en, in, physema, a blowing] , a respiratory disease that occurs in infants when air enters the lungs but cannot leave easily. The lungs become overinflated, causing respiratory function to decrease and air to leak out into the space around the lungs. Also called congenital lobar overinflation.
