Original articleGeneral thoracicCardiac Function Assessed by Transesophageal Echocardiography During Pectus Excavatum Repair
Section snippets
Patients
In this prospective study, all patients operated on between 1999 and 2004 at our institution underwent intraoperative TEE with evaluation of RV dimensions and LVEF before and after surgical correction of their pectus excavatum deformity. Seventeen adult patients were assessed, 13 male and 4 female, with a mean age of 28 years (range, 17 to 54). All patients expressed a variety of symptoms mainly related to impaired exercise tolerance and aesthetic concerns. The study was reviewed and approved
Results
The mean values of the end-diastolic RV dimensions and of the LVEFs before and after surgical correction of pectus excavatum are summarized in Table 1. The end-diastolic RV diameter, area, and volume all significantly increased after surgery (p < 0.001). Intraoperative TEE revealed that all patients had a marked RV compression and deformation exerted by sternal depression before surgical correction, which was alleviated by surgical correction (Fig 2). It also revealed that the most important
Comment
Surgical correction of pectus excavatum usually results in improved self-confidence and increased stamina in young adults in most reports, but it remains controversial and a matter of debate whether this is accompanied by a gain in cardiopulmonary reserves. A recently published meta-analysis indicates that surgical repair of pectus excavatum does not significantly improve pulmonary function [8]. In contrast, a meta-analysis from the same authors including eight studies published between 1960
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Right ventricle