Cardiopulmonary Impact of the Minimally Invasive Repair of Pectus Excavatum in Pediatric Patients: A Prospective...

The physiologic benefits of the minimally invasive repair of pectus excavatum (MIRPE) on cardiopulmonary function are poorly understood in pediatrics. We sought to examine the effects of MIRPE on exercise response during cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET).

A prospective-pilot study was conduct of patients ≤18 years who presented for pectus bar removal. All patients had CPET prior to MIRPE and following bar removal. Paired sample T tests were used to compare pre- and post-MIRPE CPET results.

Twenty-five patients completed post-MIRPE CPET (72 % male, median age 18.6 [IQR:17.5-19.8]). The median Haller and correction indices were 4.5 and 29.4 %, respectively. There was significant increase in O2Pulse, (10.3 vs 12.1 mL/beat, p = 0.004), and percent predicted O2Pulse (79.5% vs 84.4 %, p = 0.046) following MIRPE/bar removal. The peak-VO2/kg and did not change significantly following MIRPE/bar removal; however, peak-VO2 (ml/min) increased. Patients with decreased activity levels at time of bar removal compared to pre-MIRPE had decreased peak-VO2/kg and predicted peak-VO2/kg.

Following MIRPE, patients experience increased in O2Pulse, which is a surrogate measure of stroke volume response to exercise and may reflect relief of cardiac compression. Cardiopulmonary function is multifactorial and despite improvement in stroke volume, other factors may impact exercise capacity (VO2) following MIRPE.

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