Validating Clinical Anthropometry in the Assessment of Pediatric Pectus Carinatum

Background: The severity of pectus carinatum is assessed by computed tomography, X-ray, three-dimensional (3D) scans, or clinical anthropometry. During orthotic treatment of pectus carinatum, progression or improvement is often assessed with clinical anthropometry. There is a strong correlation between measurements derived from 3D scans and radiographic imaging, but the correlation between measurements from 3D scans and clinical anthropometry is unknown. This study aimed to assess the correlation between clinical anthropometry and 3D scan-derived measurements of pectus carinatum. Methods: This is a retrospective study of 86 patients with pectus carinatum. The anterior–posterior and medial–lateral chest dimensions and chest circumference at maximum protrusion of the deformity were measured using two methods: manually by the treating clinician (clinical anthropometry) and from a 3D scanned model of the chest. Pearson’s correlation coefficients were calculated to assess the strength of the relationship between the clinical anthropometry and the 3D scan-derived measurements. The intraclass correlation coefficient was used to measure the consistency of measurements among three raters. Results: There is a strong linear relationship between clinical anthropometry and 3D scan-derived measurements for all three chest measurements. Pearson’s correlation coefficient for chest circumference (r = 0.90–0.93), medial–lateral dimension (r = 0.83–0.84), and anterior–posterior dimension (r = 0.81–0.88) all showed a strong positive correlation. Intraclass correlation coefficients showed good or excellent reliability of measurements among the raters (r = 0.81–0.98). Conclusion: This study helps validate the use of clinical anthropometry in measuring severity and response to treatment in patients with pectus carinatum. Clinical Relevance: Standard clinical measurement techniques in pectus carinatum are a reliable metric to assess changes in deformity during orthotic treatment.