Pectus Excavatum

Abstract

Pectus excavatum (PE) or funnel chest is a dorsal deviation of the sternum and most commonly the third to seventh rib or costal cartilages, resulting in a concave depression of the anterior chest wall. Depending on the severity of PE, deviation of the thoracic organs and spinal deformities (such as scoliosis in 15–21% of patients) may also be present. PE is the most common congenital chest wall abnormality and has an incidence of 1 in 260 births among white infants, 1 per 1400 births among black infants and 1 in 500 in ‘other’ infants. Males are more commonly affected, with a male to female ratio of 4 to1. Autopsy records report PE in 1 of 800 cases. Survival analysis indicates that PE patients tended to die earlier. However, PE patients who survived past the age of 56 years tended to live longer than matched controls.