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Review
. 2018 Aug;28(4):327-346.
doi: 10.1055/s-0038-1668130. Epub 2018 Aug 13.

Cardiopulmonary Function in Thoracic Wall Deformities: What Do We Really Know?

Dawn E Jaroszewski  1 , Cristine S Velazco  1 , Venkata Siva Krishna Kumar Pulivarthi  1 , Reza Arsanjani  2 , Robert J Obermeyer  3
Affiliations
Review

Cardiopulmonary Function in Thoracic Wall Deformities: What Do We Really Know?

Dawn E Jaroszewski et al. Eur J Pediatr Surg. 2018 Aug.

Abstract

Patients with pectus excavatum (PE) frequently present with complaints of exercise intolerance and cardiopulmonary symptoms. There continues to be controversy regarding the physiologic benefits of repair. The aim of this review is to summarize and discuss recent data regarding the cardiopulmonary effects of PE deformity and the evidence for improvement obtained after surgical repair including (1) a greater efficiency of breathing (chest wall mechanics), (2) improvement in pulmonary restrictive deficits, (3) an increase in cardiac chamber size and output, with improved cardiac strain and strain rate, and (4) improvement in exercise capacity.

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Conflict of interest statement

Dr. Jaroszewski reports personal fees and other from Zimmer BioMet, outside the submitted work. In addition, Dr. Jaroszewski has a patent null with royalties paid. Dr. Obermeyer reports that he has a patent for a Surgical Tool to Remove Pectus Bars (US-2013–0211404-A1) licensed to Old Dominion University and Children's Surgical Specialty Group, and he is a product development consultant for Zimmer-Biomet, Inc., manufacturers of the bar and equipment used to perform the Nuss procedure. All the other authors report no conflict of interest.