Multicenter study of pectus excavatum, final report: complications, static/exercise pulmonary function, and anatomic...

Area of Science:

• Thoracic surgery
• Pediatric surgery
• Cardiothoracic surgery

Background:

• Pectus excavatum is a congenital chest wall deformity.
• Previous multicenter studies have described pectus excavatum treatment.
• This report presents final results from a prospective multicenter study.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the outcomes of surgical correction for pectus excavatum.
• To assess changes in lung function, chest morphology, and patient-reported outcomes.
• To determine the safety and efficacy of surgical pectus excavatum repair.

Main Methods:

• Prospective follow-up of 327 patients treated at 11 centers.
• Preoperative and 1-year postoperative evaluations including CT scans, pulmonary function tests, and body image surveys.
• Subset analysis of 50 patients for exercise pulmonary function testing.

Main Results:

• Surgical correction improved the computed tomography (CT) index from 4.4 to 3.0.
• Pulmonary function tests showed significant improvements in forced vital capacity, forced expiratory volume in 1 second, and total lung capacity.
• Exercise testing revealed a 10.1% increase in VO2 max and a 19% increase in O2 pulse.

Conclusions:

• Surgical correction of pectus excavatum leads to significant improvements in resting lung function, exercise capacity (VO2 max, O2 pulse), and chest morphology.
• The operative correction is safe and effective across multiple centers, significantly reducing the CT index and improving chest shape.