The effect of surgical repair of the chest on postural stability among patients with pectus excavatum.

Pectus excavatum is the most encountered of chest wall deformities. It may produce respiratory and cardiovascular symptoms, hence surgical repair of this defect is performed. The procedure involving the insertion of metal bars under the sternum (the Nuss procedure) usually brings significant improvement to patients. However, the effect of the repair on the postural stability of patients has not been studied so far. To investigate the problem of patients' stability in the postoperative period male patients with pectus excavatum (n = 21) and healthy controls (n = 22) were included in the study. Using posturography methods, we showed a negative impact of the pectus excavatum repair surgery on patients' postural stability in the first postoperative phase. The centre of pressure displacement parameters used to measure postural stability were lower after the repair for both, the frontal and sagittal plane as well as for the velocity of displacements in the sagittal plane in the double stance with eyes open. Poorer postural stability was also found in patients with pectus excavatum when compared to healthy controls. Our findings may be useful for functional monitoring in the evaluation and surgical management of pectus excavatum patients and also when designing the rehabilitation of patients undergoing the Nuss procedure.

Influence of psychosocial characteristics of patients and opinions of their relatives on indication for surgical treatment of pectus excavatum.

BACKGROUND: To assess the subjective experience of patients and their parents or relatives about the existing pectus excavatum deformity and to contribute to the definition of indications for surgical treatment of this deformity. METHODS: The initial sample of psychosocial characteristics consisted of self-assessments and observations of patients (and parents) regarding their health, self-image, health care, possible environmental response to their physical appearance, expectations regarding treatment. A modified version of the original Nuss questionnaire on quality of life was used in the psychological part of the examination. RESULTS: The study included a sample of 58 patients aged 10 to 30 years, and a sample of 58 family members of the patient (parents, relatives). The experience of poor emotional status, withdrawals, and bad self-image in patients older than 15 years than younger were significant. The tendency for female patients to have a worse experience is pronounced and significant. The largest percentage of parents have an 'indecisive' or 'weakly expressed' attitude towards surgery. Parents at a significantly higher rate show greater concern for female children. CONCLUSION: A systematic evaluation of the psychosocial perception of patients and their relatives (who will consent for the operation) may be a useful diagnostic assessment before correcting an anterior chest wall malformation.

Increased incidence of mitral valve prolapse in children with pectus chest wall deformity.

BACKGROUND: Pectus anomalies constitute 95% of chest anomalies. Pectus carinatum (PC) and excavatum (PE) are often asymptomatic in childhood. However, symptoms and signs such as chest pain, dyspnea, and mitral valve prolapse (MVP) can be seen in pectus anomalies. Demographic characteristics and accompanying cardiac signs in children with pectus deformity were investigated. METHODS: In this study, the clinical findings for children with pectus deformity, and the incidence of MVP and other concomitant heart diseases detected in echocardiographic examinations were evaluated. RESULTS: Eighty-two children with PE, 27 with PC, and 107 healthy children were included in this study. In the echocardiographic examination of PE, PC patients, and healthy children, MVP was detected with frequencies of 25%, 33%, and 2% respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The study showed that pectus anomalies were associated with an increased incidence of MVP. All patients with pectus deformity should therefore undergo a screening echocardiogram in adolescence to assess for the presence of MVP.

Pectus Excavatum: Consensus and Controversies in Clinical Practice.

BACKGROUND: Pectus excavatum is the most common congenital anterior chest wall deformity. Currently, a wide variety of diagnostic protocols and criteria for corrective surgery are being used. Their use is predominantly based on local preferences and experience. To date, no guideline is available, introducing heterogeneity of care as observed in current daily practice. The aim of this study was to evaluate consensus and controversies regarding the diagnostic protocol, indications for surgical correction, and postoperative evaluation of pectus excavatum. METHODS: The study consisted of 3 consecutive survey rounds evaluating agreement on different statements regarding pectus excavatum care. Consensus was achieved if at least 70% of participants provided a concurring opinion. RESULTS: All 3 rounds were completed by 57 participants (18% response rate). Consensus was achieved on 18 of 62 statements (29%). Regarding the diagnostic protocol, participants agreed to routinely include conventional photography. In the presence of cardiac impairment, electrocardiography and echocardiography were indicated. Upon suspicion of pulmonary impairment, spirometry was recommended. In addition, consensus was reached on the indications for corrective surgery, including symptomatic pectus excavatum and progression. Participants moreover agreed that a plain chest radiograph must be acquired directly after surgery, whereas conventional photography and physical examination should both be part of routine postoperative follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: Through a multiround survey, international consensus was formed on multiple topics to aid standardization of pectus excavatum care.

Combined Repair of Upper Sternal Cleft and Pectus Excavatum in a Child.

Sternal cleft accompanied by pectus excavatum is a rare type of congenital anomaly of the chest wall. Surgical correction is a suitable approach to restore the heart, large vessels, and respiratory dynamics early. This is a report of the successful surgical correction of upper sternal cleft anomaly accompanied by pectus excavatum in a child. The pectus excavatum was corrected without the use of any prosthesis. The cleft was closed by primary approximation with enough dissected pectoralis major muscle and partial thymectomy, mobility, and flexibility ensured by pectus correction. The integrity of the sternum and the chest wall was normal at the end of the 12-month follow-up period.

Pectus Excavatum in Cardiac Surgery Patients.

BACKGROUND: Pectus excavatum frequently accompanies congenital heart disease and connective tissue diseases requiring cardiac surgery. Sometimes the indication is cardiac repair, with the pectus being incidentally noticed; other times, the pectus subsequently develops or becomes more significant after cardiac surgery. This review arms cardiac and congenital surgeons with background about the physiologic impact of pectus, indications for repair and repair strategies, and outcomes for cardiac surgery patients requiring pectus repair. METHODS: A comprehensive literature review was performed using keywords related to pectus excavatum, pectus repair, and cardiac/congenital heart surgery within the PubMed database. RESULTS: The risks of complications related to pectus repair, including in the setting of cardiac surgery or after cardiac surgery, are low in experienced hands, and patients demonstrate cardiopulmonary benefits and symptom relief. Concomitant pectus and cardiac surgery should be considered if it is performed in conjunction with those experienced in pectus repair, particularly given the increased cardiopulmonary impact of pectus after bypass. In the setting of potential bleeding or hemodynamic instability, delayed sternal closure is recommended. For those with anticipated pectus repair after cardiac surgery, the pericardium should be reconstructed for cardiac protection. For those undergoing pectus repair after cardiac surgery without a membrane placed, a "hybrid" approach is safe and effective. CONCLUSIONS: Patients undergoing cardiac surgery noted to have pectus should be considered for possible concomitant or staged pectus repair. For those who will undergo a staged procedure, a barrier membrane should be placed before chest closure.

Academic performance in children with pectus excavatum: a real-world research with propensity score matching.

BACKGROUND: The optimal timing of surgery for pectus excavatum (PE) is controversial. A large proportion of children will not undergo surgery before puberty. However, untimely surgery may lead to a decline in the children's social adaptation and competitiveness because the children have already developed psychological and physiological impairments due to PE at an early age. The study retrospectively compared the academic performance in PE children undergoing the Nuss procedure versus nonsurgical observation. METHODS: This retrospective real-world research study included 480 PE patients with definite surgical indications, in whom it was first recommended that they undergo surgery between the ages of 6 and 12 years old. Academic performance was collected at baseline and 6 years later. A generalized linear regression was calculated to screen the factors affecting the performance. A propensity score matching (PSM) analysis was conducted to reduce the potential for confounding factors between surgical and nonsurgical PE patients. RESULTS: Haller index (HI) and pulmonary function were recognized as factors affecting baseline performance according to the generalized linear regression. For PE children with surgical indications, their academic performance significantly declined after 6 years of nonsurgical observation (52.1% ± 17.1% versus 58.3% ± 16.7%, p = 0.042). The academic performance in the surgery group was better than that in the nonsurgery group 6 years after PSM (60.7% ± 17.7% versus 52.1% ± 17.1%, p = 0.008). CONCLUSIONS: The severity of PE will affect the academic performance of children.For PE children with definite surgical indications between the ages of 6 and 12 years old, surgical intervention rather than nonsurgical observation is more conducive to the development of children's academic performance.

Modified Nuss procedure for the treatment of pectus excavatum: Experience of 259 patients.

BACKGROUND: Pectus excavatum is not rare in China. Many treatments for this disease have proved to have many shortcomings. Nuss procedure has been a ground-breaking technology, but it also has some disadvantages. Hence, this study was conducted to review our experience in the use of modified Nuss procedure in our hospital. METHODS: Data from 259 patients suffered from pectus excavatum between August 2020 and August 2021 who were treated with modified Nuss procedure was analyzed retrospectively. RESULT: Age was from 3 to 37 years. The average was 15.54 years. The male was 213 cases and the female was 46 cases. The time patients or their family members found pectus excavatum varied. 10 cases had been repaired previously when patients were admitted in our hospital. The clinical symptoms also varied. Each case had an improvement in Haller index. The average of the postoperative hospitalization was 3.97 days. Most cases were inserted 1 bar. Complication rate was also very low. All patients or their parents or their guardians were satisfied with the appearance of the chest wall after operation. There was no death in the whole observation period. CONCLUSION: From our experience, this modified Nuss procedure have obtained optimistic outcomes with more minimal invasion and low complication rate. This surgical method may be applied to many other hospitals in the future.

Spontaneous subdiaphragmatic bar migration after pectus excavatum treatment.

A case of an adolescent boy with persistent thoracic symptoms and recurrence of pectus excavatum (after previous treatment with the Nuss procedure) is presented. During thoracoscopic revision, subdiaphragmatic migration of the implant was noted. The bar was removed without damage to the intra-abdominal organs or other complications, and a new bar was placed and stabilised. Revision showed successful correction of the thorax, and the boy had no thoracic symptoms.

Chest Wall Deformities and Congenital Lung Lesions: What the General/Thoracic Surgeon Should Know.

Pectus excavatum, carinatum, and arcuatum are 3 developmental chest wall deformities that may evolve during childhood and cause cardiac and/or pulmonary compression. Evaluation may include nonsurgical subspecialty consultations and imaging studies. Treatment may be nonoperative or surgical. Long-term follow-up studies have identified rare complications of traditional open repair. Routine in utero ultrasonography has led to increasing identification of congenital lung anomalies, including congenital cystic adenomatoid malformations, pulmonary sequestrations, and bronchogenic cysts. Short-term follow-up studies have suggested that some lesions may regress spontaneously. Minimally invasive techniques, including thoracoscopy, may allow for early surgical resection with less morbidity than traditional open surgery.

Chest wall deformities and their possible associations with different genetic syndromes.

OBJECTIVE: Our primary objective was to identify discrete and syndromic cases of Pectus excavatum (PE) and Pectus carinatum (PC). We also intended to highlight the significance of further genetic exploration in clinically suspected syndromic cases of PC and PE. Pectus excavatum (PE) and Pectus carinatum (PC) are the most common morphological chest wall deformities. Although various hypotheses have been put forth, the pathogenesis of both entities is largely unknown. Clinicians often refer such cases for further genetic evaluation to exclude an associated underlying connective tissue disorder or a syndrome. Additionally, a detailed anamnesis with focused family history and thorough dysmorphological physical examination was done. PE and PC are considered isolated abnormalities if there is the absence of features of other syndromes, eliminating the need for further genetic evaluations. It is believed that the pattern of inheritance of these non-syndromic isolated PE and PC cases with positive family history could be multifactorial in nature. The recurrence risk of such isolated cases is thought to be low. Further diagnostic studies are indicated as PE and PC could be a part of a syndrome. Among the many syndromes, the most common monogenic syndromes associated with PE and PC are Marfan's and Noonan's. PATIENTS AND METHODS: After obtaining the consent, we compiled a database of the patients who presented with chest wall deformities during the period 2017-2019. We selected 70 cases with PC and PE deformities to identify the discrete and syndromic PC and PE cases. During the study, we perused the cytogenetic and/or molecular analyses, that had been conducted to confirm the clinically suspected syndromic cases. We also scrutinized for the presence of PC and PE cases that are associated with the rare syndrome (s). RESULTS: Various genetic abnormalities were identified in 28 (40%) of the 70 cases that had been diagnosed with chest wall abnormalities. Along with PE and PC, other thoracic wall abnormalities were also identified, such as the broad chest, bell-shaped thorax, and elongated or enlarged thorax. One case of a rare genetic disorder of Morquio syndrome associated with PC was also identified. Novel (previously unpublished) genomic variants are reported here. CONCLUSIONS: It is important to delve deeper when encountering cases of PE and PC by conducting a further genetic exploration of such cases to identify syndromic associations that cause other structural and functional disorders, diagnosis of which might be missed during the early developmental period. Early identification of such disorders may help us correcting the defects, slowing the progression of disease processes, and preparing better to deal with the potential outcome.

Pectus excavatum, kyphoscoliosis associated with thoracolumbar spinal stenosis: a rare case report and literature review.

BACKGROUND: Pectus excavatum is the most common congenital chest wall defect. Thoracolumbar spinal stenosis and kyphoscoliosis was seen in patients with pectus excavatum. It can be caused by ossification of the ligamentum flavum, which is rare in patients with pectus excavatum. CASE PRESENTATION: We reported a 26-year-old woman presented bilateral lower extremities weakness and numbness for two months, progressive worsening. She was diagnosed as thoracolumbar spinal stenosis with ossification of the ligamentum flavum, thoracolumbar kyphoscoliosis associated with pectus excavatum. The posterior instrumentation, decompression with laminectomy, and de-kyposis procedure with multilevel ponte osteotomy were performed. Her postoperative course was uneventful and followed up regularly. Good neurologic symptoms improvement and spinal alignment were achieved. CONCLUSIONS: Pectus excavatum, kyphoscoliosis associated with thoracolumbar spinal stenosis is rare, and thus her treatment options are very challengeable. Extensive laminectomy decompression and de-kyphosis procedures can achieve good improvement of neurologic impingement and spinal alignment.

Use of a customized 3D-printed external splint for the correction of a severe pectus excavatum in a 3-month-old kitten.

Background: Pectus excavatum is a rare congenital or developmental deformity of the chest wall that has been reported in both dogs and cats. The clinical symptoms vary in severity and are correlated with the grade of the deformity. The most severe cases are at a very high risk of intra- and post-operative complications that could be fatal. Case Description: A 3-month-old kitten was presented for severe dyspnea and exercise intolerance. After the radiographic diagnosis of severe pectus excavatum, a splint was designed based on the computed tomography scan of the kitten. A locking mechanism was applied on a dedicated pocket on the splint and secured with commercial glue. Five sutures were placed, the most caudal three with a surgical approach to the corresponding sternebra. The three caudal traction sutures were progressively tensioned during the first 2 weeks, and then tied. The splint was removed 1 month postoperatively; neither surgical nor splint-associated complications were observed. The kitten well tolerated the splint and the owner reported no further episodes of dyspnea or exercise intolerance. Vertebral and frontosagittal indexes were 3.2 and 9.1 at presentation, respectively, and 10.2 and 2.0 at 4 months postoperatively. Conclusion: The use of a patient-specific 3D-printed external splint associated with a progressive correction of the pectus excavatum can be a better solution for the treatment of severe cases of pectus excavatum, where a sudden distension of the rib cage could cause re-expansion injuries.

Short and long term outcomes of using cryoablation for postoperative pain control in patients after pectus excavatum repair.

INTRODUCTION: We report the findings of a three-year prospective observational study elucidating long-term symptoms and complications of patients who underwent minimally invasive pectus excavatum repair with intercostal nerve cryoablation with specific attention to postoperative pain control associated with the cryoablation technique. METHODS: Surveys were administered to patients who underwent bar placement for pectus excavatum with intercostal nerve cryoablation from 2017 to 2021 regarding pain scores, pain medication usage, and limitations to activity beginning on the day of surgery, on the day of discharge, and at two-week and three-month follow-up. RESULTS: Of 110 patients, forty-eight (44%) completed the discharge survey; sharp pain and pressure on the first postoperative night were the most described pain characteristics, most frequently in the middle of the chest. On follow-up, 55% of patients reported tolerable residual pain at two weeks and 41% at three months, with 25% requiring intermittent pain medication at three months. There were three readmissions for inadequate pain control and 110 calls to the surgery clinic by three-month follow-up, most commonly for persistent pain and frequent popping sensation with movement. DISCUSSION: Although cryoablation is an excellent pain control modality, these data suggest that patients underreport functional symptoms and experience more frequent discomfort and alteration of daily living activities.

[Correction of pectus excavatum and long-term outcome in adult]. / Korrektsiya voronkoobraznoi deformatsii grudnoi kletki i otdalennye rezul'taty lecheniya u patsienta 50 let.

Pectus excavatum is the most common congenital chest malformation characterized by symmetrical or asymmetric depression of the chest with deformation of the sternocostal complex. Pectus excavatum is often associated with other dysplastic diseases of connective tissue. Ravitch thoracoplasty and Nuss minimally invasive correction are the most common today. The authors report surgical correction of PE in a 50-years-old male who underwent Ravitch modified thoracoplasty with implantation of shape memory plate. Long-term treatment outcomes and technical properties of the plate after removing are analyzed.

Correlation of anthropometric index and cardiopulmonary exercise testing in children with pectus excavatum.

BACKGROUND: Cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) is a method used to evaluate functional impairment of patients with various diseases. OBJECTIVE: The objective was to use CPET to estimate the usability of anthropometric index (AI) in patients with pectus excavatum (PE) as a marker of functional impairment caused by chest deformity. METHODS: The study included 32 paediatric patients (28 males) with PE. Patients underwent CPET using a breath-by-breath exhaled gas analysis method and continuous monitoring of cardiac parameters. RESULTS: In both groups, two (overall four) patients met criteria for cardiogenic limitation (low VO2 and low O2Pulse). Mean VO2/WR was below two standard deviations (2SD) in patients with less severe PE; other observed parameters were within normal limits (Z-score ± 2 SD). The AI had no observed correlation with peak ventilation, VO2peak and peak workload. CONCLUSION: The obtained CPET data do not correlate well with the severity of chest deformity expressed with AI. There were similar physical activity limitations in both examined groups of patients and they did not depend on the severity of the deformity.