Active clinical trials for "Funnel Chest"

Pectus excavatum is the most common anterior chest wall deformity, affecting up to 1:400 of newborns. The current gold standard to quantify the extent of deformity is by calculating the Haller Index based on a Computed Tomography (CT)-scan. However, as such scans inescapably imply exposure to ionizing radiation, novel imaging techniques have been investigated. Three-dimensional optical surface scanning is a promising new technique to acquire the trunks' three-dimensional (3D) surface topography. Based on this 3D scan, one is able to calculate the external Haller Index that is known to highly correlate with the conventional gold standard Haller Index that is based on internal measures. Both the conventional and external Haller Index are known to be affected by the respiratory phase in which the scan is acquired, however, what is the effect of patient position on the external Haller Index, and if affected, how should one correct for this phenomenon? To investigate this, a retrospective single-centre pilot study will be conducted.

Chest wall deformities are the development of ribs, cartilage and sternum that form the chest wall together with isolated or abnormalities of the musculoskeletal system. Pectus excavatum and carinatum deformities are most common. It is reported that individuals with this problem have posture and physical impairments, difficulty in psychosocial relations and decreased quality of life.Therefore, in this study, the investigators aimed to evaluated the physical and psychosocial characteristics of patients with pectus excavatum and carinatum compared with healthy controls.

The main goal of the pectus multicenter outcomes study is to document the utility of PEx repair in improving health and quality of life and to test the prevailing belief that the two predominant surgical procedures currently in use for PEx repair are essentially equivalent in terms of long-term outcomes. We believe the uncertainty about the impact of PEx on cardiopulmonary function is due to part to the fact that the previous studies have not measured the physiological parameters mostly likely affected by the defect. A protocol to test this was developed. Thus, we propose to use these measures as well as conventional output of progressive exercise test to examine cardiopulmonary function before and after surgical repair of PEx within the context of the original study.

Investigators conducted a pilot study to to evaluate the autonomic function in participants with pectus excavatum before and after Nuss surgery.