Repair of pectus deformities: experience and outcome in 317 cases

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 experience with surgical repair of pectus deformity (PD) in adults, including our new technique, which uses a resorbable plaque for fixation of the sternum.

We reviewed the records of 317 patients who underwent surgical correction of PD between October 1997 and December 2005.

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 patients. Four different operative techniques were used. There were no intraoperative 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.

The majority of patients with pectus deformity had been operated on during childhood; therefore there is limited published information 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 osteotomy. Various techniques can be used for this purpose.