Fryns' syndrome was reported for the first time in 1979 in children who died neonatally of prematurity and respiratory distress. This lethal, autosomal recessive syndrome is characterized by a diaphragmatic defect, pulmonary hypoplasia, a "coarse" face and distal limb abnormalities. This report presents a prenatal ultrasonographic diagnosis at 20 weeks' gestation of a case of Fryns' syndrome and defines the frequency of each of its abnormalities from the 38 cases listed in the literature.