Acquired thoracic dystrophy is a complication associated with early open repair of pectus excavatum resulting from extensive cartilage resection. The condition can cause serious functional and physiologic impairments, including cardiac compression and restrictive pulmonary function. We describe a 17-year-old boy with acquired thoracic dystrophy after Ravitch repair of pectus excavatum during in...

The minimally invasive Nuss procedure has become the standard of care for surgical correction of pectus excavatum. Pectus excavatum is the most common congenital deformity of the chest wall. Historically, surgical correction was limited to the Ravitch procedure, an invasive procedure associated with significant drawbacks, where abnormal cartilage was removed and the sternum elevated and stabili...

Pectus excavatum (PE) is a relatively common congenital deformity of the anterior chest wall associated with reduced exercise capacity. Uncertainty exists over the nature of physiologic impairment in PE. Evidence suggests that myocardial compression exerted by the displaced sternum on the right heart chambers, disables the ability of the heart to augment stroke volume during exercise. This case...

BACKGROUND There is sparse published information regarding the repair of pectus chest deformities in adults. This report summarizes our clinical experience with the surgical repair of pectus excavatum and carinatum deformities in 25 adults. METHODS During the past 11 years, 25 patients 20 years of age or older (mean 31) with symptomatic pectus excavatum (23) or carinatum (2) deformities under...

PURPOSE Uncertainty exists as to whether pectus excavatum causes true physiologic impairments to exercise performance as opposed to lack of fitness due to reluctance to exercise. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of pectus excavatum on ventilatory and cardiovascular responses to incremental exercise in physically active patients. METHODS Twenty-one patients with pectus excav...