Famous People with Pectus Excavatum

Pectus excavatum is a common congenital deformity in the anterior wall which can only be found in the chest. In this health condition, the sternum and ribs develop abnormally. The other term for this condition is hallowed chest, sunken chest, funnel chest or cobbler’s chest due to the sunken or caved-in appearance of the chest area. This can happen during pregnancy or it may not be developed until a child reaches the puberty stage. This can possibly weaken the function of the respiratory and cardiac. Aside from that, it can trigger back and chest pain.

Signs and Symptoms

Individuals who suffer from pectus excavatum usually experience negative psychosocial effects and they typically refrain from doing some physical activities that need chest exposure. The signs and symptoms of this condition is that the sternum has a sunken appearance. The heart can be rotated or displaced resulting to the existence of the mitral valve prolapsed, and poor function of the base lungs.

Researchers show that the cause of this health condition is a hypothesized genetic defect. Individuals who suffer from it usually have family members suffering as well. Their utero works in a high pressure and there is also an increased grip in the sternum. This often happens when they have abnormal diaphragm and the other symptoms of it is just like the signs of Marfan syndrome.

Nowadays, spinal muscular atrophy is a kind of condition that usually affects children. This condition can possibly lead to pectus excavatum because they have the symptom of diaphragmatic breathing which is very common in this condition.

Treatment Options

There are also cases wherein some individuals who have celiac disease also suffer from pectus excavatum. The treatments to help improve pectus excavation is vacuum bell, orthopedics, surgery, (pectus UP, nuss procedure, and ravitch technique), light and cosmetic medication, robicsek technique, and magnetic mini-mover procedure.

• This vacuum bell contains a bowl shape-like machine that fits with the cave area. It lifts up the sternum and decreases the deformity of it.
• Orthopedics is administered to patients who have mild cases of pectus excavatum. It utilizes a corset like orthopedic that helps the vests and the kind of exercise they perform.
• Surgery repairs any functional symptoms that usually appear in this condition like heart murmurs, and respiratory issues.
• Robicsek technique corrects the position of the sternum.
• The light and cosmetic treatments can treat this condition through the use of Bio-Alcamid. There are times that prosthetic implants use solid silicone to have more impressive result.
• The magnetic mini-mover procedure is a method that corrects the position of the sternum through the use of two magnets. It actually realigns the sternum along with the ribcage and chest.