[Functional assessment of respiration and blood circulation in pectus excavatum]

Functional investigation was carried out on respiration and cardiovascular system of 57 adolescents with pectus excavatum. Right cardiac catheterization was performed to 10 of them. Two thirds of the cases with right bundle branch block and 7 out of the tenth with catheterizatium were established to have elevated telediastolic pressure in right ventricle and diminished cardiac index, supplying grounds to the authors to presume a difficulty in the filling of the right ventricle resulting from the mechanic pressure due to the deformity. Respiratory deviations proved to be negligible. The indications for operation are determined by the results from the complex functional examinations.