Overview

What is Pectus excavatum?

Pectus excavatum refers to an abnormal inward curvature of the sternum or breastbone. It involves a deep, sometimes sharp depression of four or five ribs on either side of your chest wall. Pectus excavatum has been known under other names: sunken chest and funnel chest. Because of this condition, your chest includes very few cavities, which may inhibit lung and heart capacity.

It is being intrinsic means you are born with pectus excavatum. However, it is most commonly seen in early young adulthood.

Clinical practitioners have two options while treating pectus excavatum: open surgery or minimally invasive surgery.

What are the symptoms of pectus excavatum?

Physical and psychological symptoms are also present with pectus excavatum.

Some physical symptoms are:

Breathlessness with exercise.
Less energy than peers.
Pain in the chest.
An abnormal heartbeat.
Palpitations in the chest.

Some of the psychological symptoms include;

Severe embarrassment about the way your chest looks.
Difficulty with self-esteem.
Depression clinically.

What causes Pectus Excavatum?

Most people do not know what might cause pectus excavatum. However, it can also occur in people with connective tissue diseases such as Ehlers-Danlos syndrome or Marfan syndrome.

How is pectus excavatum diagnosed?

A doctor can diagnose pectus excavatum with a simple physical examination. However, the condition may not come to the attention of providers until you're in your teens. To determine how much pectus excavatum is impairing your cardiopulmonary (heart and lung) function, they may wish to carry out some investigations.

Which tests are scheduled to diagnose pectus excavatum?

Pectus excavatum tests might include:

Chest Magnetic resonance imaging
Registered chest CT.
Cardiopulmonary exercise testing by the lungs and heart.
An EKG or electrocardiogram.
PFTs are pulmonary function tests

What is the treatment given to Pectus Excavatum?

Pectus excavatum can be treated with conservative approaches, but typically for patients with moderate to severe symptoms. Patients with mild symptoms and minimal side effects may be good candidates for non-surgical interventions. Exercise with some activities will increase the magnitude of chest expansion and optimize function.

If you do not feel any pain due to the depression on your breastbone but detest its appearance, you could then opt to have a silicone insert inserted under your skin to fill up that area. It is just like having a breast implant under your skin.

The most invasive and oldest surgical technique available to treat pectus excavatum involves open surgery, also commonly referred to as the Ravitch operation. It has been used for over a century. Different pieces of cartilage, bone, or muscle will be removed or rearranged based on your unique structural irregularities. Even though there have been newer, less invasive ways to treat pectus excavatum, open surgery remains safely used throughout the world.

The Nuss Technique- This is a more minimally invasive alternative to open surgery, introduced by Donald Nuss in 1998. Unlike the open surgery procedure, it does not involve a resection or cut of the sternal bone or cartilage. Here, it is possible to move the sternum into a better position using an implanted metal rod inside. Then, there is the Wang procedure, a modification of many techniques applied in the insertion process of the rod and repositioning of the sternum. Mostly, it will have been removed years later. You and your surgeon should decide which procedure will be best for you. The Nuss procedure may shorten your hospital stay and decrease your blood loss; however, investigators have found relatively few overall differences in outcomes between open and minimally invasive procedures, especially among children. The Nuss procedure has also been linked to a diminished rate of complications after operation in adults.

What factors place a person at risk for pectus excavatum?

It is trying to distinguish risk factors for pectus excavatum without even a trace of a perceived reason. If pectus excavatum runs in your family or you have a related disease, then your chances of developing it may increase.

Is pectus excavatum genetic?

Researchers have not found a specific genetic link. They do believe that one may exist. A first-degree biological family member with pectus excavatum affects between 40 percent and 53 percent of individuals who have the condition.

What are the complications of pectus excavatum?

Pectus excavatum has relationships with:

Poor exercise endurance.
Mitral valve prolapse (one of the heart valves will leak).
The force against your heart.

Living With

How can I plan for my needs?

For those who are not treated for pectus excavatum, symptoms, both psychological and physical, are part of everyday life. Inpatient or outpatient ones who claim that this illness is cosmetic do not have any idea of what you are going through. Find a doctor who will listen to your fears and try to help you have control over them.

Why Tender Palm Super-Speciality Hospital for Pectus Excavatum?

Tender Palm Hospital has the most experienced team of Cardiologists, Cardiac Surgeons, and diagnostics with the latest and International standard infection control measures in Lucknow, India. The Cardiac Science Centre team has decades of experience in successfully treating Pectus Excavatum.