Cardiorespiratory function before and after corrective surgery in pectus excavatum

To determine whether pectus excavatum (PE) results in cardiopulmonary abnormalities, and whether surgical repair results in improvement. We performed pulmonary function testing and incremental exercise testing in 36 adolescents with PE (aged 16 ± 3 (SD) years) and 10 age-matched, healthy control subjects. Fifteen PE subjects were reexamined postoperatively, as were six control subjects. Preoperatively, PE subjects had a significantly lower forced vital capacity than control subjects had (81 % ± 14% vs 98% ± 9% of the predicted value; p < 0.001). Chest computed tomography ratios of internal transverse to anteroposterior diameters correlated inversely with total lung capacity ( r=-0.56; p