Impact of Pectus Excavatum Repair on Improving Cardiopulmonary Function

Background: Pectus excavatum (PE) is the most common congenital chest wall anomaly, defined as a depression in the sternum and adjacent costal cartilage, which can cause substantial aesthetic issues, and functional limitations to the cardiovascular and pulmonary systems. Objective: This study aimed to assess the impact of pectus excavatum repair on improving cardiopulmonary function. Methods: This retrospective study was conducted on 67 patients diagnosed with moderate to severe pectus excavatum and indicated for surgical correction via the Ravitch procedure. The patients were evaluated preoperatively and followed up at 1-year post-surgery. Patients underwent transthoracic echocardiography, CT chest (computed tomography), spirometry, and chest X-Ray. Results: Forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1) and total lung capacity (TLC) showed significant improvement 1-year postoperatively (P value < 0.001 and = 0.05 respectively). On the other hand, the improvement in vital capacity (VC) and forced vital capacity (FVC) was not statistically significant (P value = 0.422 and 0.651 respectively). Stroke volume (SV) and cardiac output (CO) also showed a significant improvement 1-year postoperatively (P value <0.001 and = 0.01 respectively). However, ejection fraction (EF) and cardiac index (CI) showed minimal trend toward enhancement, the improvement was not statistically significant. Conclusions: The Ravitch procedure for pectus excavatum repair showed improvements in both cardiac function (especially stroke volume and CO) and respiratory function (especially FEV1 and TLC).