PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Dawn Jaroszewski
AU  - David Notrica
AU  - Lisa McMahon
AU  - D. Eric Steidley
AU  - Claude Deschamps
TI  - Current Management of Pectus Excavatum: A Review and Update of Therapy and Treatment Recommendations
AID  - 10.3122/jabfm.2010.02.090234
DP  - 2010 Mar 01
TA  - The Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine
PG  - 230--239
VI  - 23
IP  - 2
4099  - http://www.jabfm.org/content/23/2/230.short
4100  - http://www.jabfm.org/content/23/2/230.full
SO  - J Am Board Fam Med2010 Mar 01; 23
AB  - Pectus excavatum (PE) is a posterior depression of the sternum and adjacent costal cartilages and is frequently seen by primary care providers. PE accounts for >90% of congenital chest wall deformities. Patients with PE are often dismissed by physicians as having an inconsequential problem; however, it can be more than a cosmetic deformity. Severe cases can cause cardiopulmonary impairment and physiologic limitations. Evidence continues to present that these physiologic impairments may worsen as the patient ages. Data reports improved cardiopulmonary function after repair and marked improvement in psychosocial function. More recent consensus by both the pediatric and thoracic surgical communities validates surgical repair of the significant PE and contradicts arguments that repair is primarily cosmetic. We performed a review of the current literature and treatment recommendations for patients with PE deformities.