Pectus excavatum in adults

Abstract

Pectus excavatum is a chest-wall deformity occurring in approximately 1 in 400 individuals and is identified four times more commonly in males than females. Based upon this figure, a region with 30,000 live births per year (approximately what would occur in an area with a population of 2,000,000) would expect to have 75 children born with pectus excavatum per year. The underlying etiology is unknown. More than 90% have some evidence of depression of the sternum at birth with progression of the severity of the deformity over the course of their growth and development. Many patients will note that a family member also has this deformity, although no clear genetic predisposition to this as an isolated entity has been identified. Patients with connective tissue disorders, such as Marfan's syndrome, have a fairly high incidence of pectus excavatum or pectus carinatum. Because these disorders are generally of genetic origin, there is likely a chromosomal correlation in this instance. © 2007 Springer-Verlag London Limited.