PULMONARY REHABILITATION IN PECTUS EXCAVATUM: FROM THEORY TO MEDICAL PRACTICE

Background: Pectus excavatum (PE) is the most common developmental abnormality of the chest, which is determined by the abnormal development of the sternum and ribs with the appearance of a concavity in the anterior chest wall. Case presentation: We present the case of a 43-year-old man, diagnosed at the age of 5 with Pectus excavatum, for which surgical intervention was performed, and who later, at the age of 8, underwent right lower partial lobectomy for pulmonary cysts. The patient included in the pulmonary rehabilitation program at the Rehabilitation Clinical Hospital, Iasi, Romania, returns for exertional dyspnea, chest constriction, moderate physical asthenia. The patient goes through all the complex multidisciplinary assessments and continues the pulmonary rehabilitaton (PR) program, and at the end of the two weeks of hospitalization the benefits are quantified, he continues the PR program at home. Conclusions: Pulmonary rehabilitation is one of the most powerful evidence-based therapies, constituting a cornerstone alongside surgical management of congenital chest malformation.