Repair of pectus deformities : Experience and outcome in 317 cases

Abstract

Background: The most common congenital chest wall deformities are pectus excavatum and pectus carinatum. Various techniques have been described for correction of pectus deformities. We describe our experi-ence with surgical repair of pectus deformity (PD) in adults, including our new technique, which uses a resorbable plaque for fixation of the sternum. Methods: We reviewed the records of 317 patients who underwent surgical correction of PD between October 1997 and December 2005. Results: All of the patients were male and the median age was 21.3 years (range, 16-32 years). Of 317 patients, the type of deformity was a pectus excavatum in 230 patients and a pectus carinatum in 87 of the pa-tients. Four different operative techniques were used.There were no in-traoperative deaths or major perioperative morbidity. The complications rate was 17%. Overall mean hospital stay was 14.25 days. In 208 patients who underwent a mid-term outpatient follow up (mean, 8 months), there was no recurrence. Patient satisfaction was excellent in 234 patients, good in 79 patients and fair in 4 patients. Conclusion: The majority of patients with pectus deformity had been operated on during childhood; therefore there is limited published infor-mation about the correction of pectus excavatum and pectus carinatum deformities in adults. The most important point in pectus correction is to achieve proper and long-term stability of the sternum following oste-otomy. Various techniques can be used for this purpose.